Two Sides of the Same Coin
by rentheadperson525600
Summary: Ezra has a twin brother, Elijah, who kidnaps him and holds him hostage, then takes over his life in Rosewood. My attempt at an explanation for Ezra's strange behavior in season 4. Rated M for a reason! See italicized detailed explanation before story for elaboration.
1. Discovery

_(This story requires a little bit of explanation that couldn't fit in the summary before you read it. Even back before they attempted to give an explanation for Ezra's bizarre behavior in season 4, I always had a feeling that something wasn't right. Ezra's behavior towards Aria was always respectful, the entire relationship was always on her terms, he never pushed her to do anything she wasn't comfortable with-which made his insisting on her lying to her family and friends and going to the cabin with him extremely odd and out of character-and it was clear that his feelings for her in earlier seasons were genuine. And even with the explanation they gave of him writing the book, it still didn't explain all of his behavior. At least, it didn't give an explanation that I was happy with. I mean, the scene with the chick peas in the cabin? Scaring the hell out of Aria that night when she woke up in an empty bed? I don't buy that being for book research. And they never really explained it, except in an interview where they said Ezra was supposed to be A but then they got too much backlash from the fans. So one of my PLL-loving friends and I were talking about this huge plot hole one day, and I made a remark about what if Ezra had a twin and it was really his twin doing all of this stuff. It was kind of an off-hand remark and it was meant as a joke, but thus the idea for this fanfiction was born. There actually is kind of some evidence to twist things that way if one were inclined to do so. Take the Halloween episode in season 4. Ezra calls Aria to tell her to be careful, then hangs up and steps out from behind the tombstone in that weird costume. But when he was on the phone with Aria a second before, he was in normal clothes and standing somewhere in an alley. I'm just saying, not even a superhero can be in two places at once. Anyway, without further ado, here is the brainchild of a random conversation with my friend, who by the way has helped me a lot with plot points for this story. Some scenes from the show are in this story, and as always, it should go without saying that I do not own that dialogue or those parts of the story. Also, WARNING! This story is rated M for a reason. Ezra's twin in my story is a sociopath, and thus says and does some pretty disturbing things, including some bedroom activity with a certain someone in a later chapter that is not entirely consensual because she doesn't know who she's really with. May be a trigger for some. I will post a warning at the beginning of that chapter when it happens so if you are triggered by that sort of thing, you will know not to read that chapter.)_

 **Ezra**

As I followed the trail of clues that had led me here to Ravenswood, I looked back on the past five years. I tried to figure out what I'd done to lead Elijah straight to me. I'd tried to be so careful. I'd moved to a little middle of nowhere town. I'd started paying for everything with cash and money orders so as not to leave a paper trail that he could follow. God, when Aria had found that cash and I'd spun that weak lie about it…I'd thought for sure I was going to have to tell her. But I didn't know how. Even now, I felt like I needed to tell her, but I couldn't find the words. How does one tell the love of his life that he has a sociopathic twin brother who is hell-bent on destroying his life?

Oh, Christ. Aria. The only thing I'd done that hadn't been almost completely about protecting myself from my sociopathic twin brother since I'd left my family in New York was falling in love. I hadn't expected that to happen. I hadn't planned on Aria. But does anyone really plan on falling in love? And how had having an almost completely secret relationship led Elijah right to my doorstep?

My mom and Wesley had both tried to warn me. They'd tried to tell me that I was getting too careless. And that Aria was going to just become something he could use to hurt me when he did find me, which he would. Doing anything to her would have been worse than hurting me directly. He'd know that. He knew me almost better than I knew myself. But although Elijah and I may have shared the exact same genetic makeup, we couldn't have been more different.

###################

 _Elijah and I were four years old, and we were waiting with our grandparents out in the waiting room of the hospital. Mom was in labor, and we were waiting to meet our new baby brother. I couldn't have been more excited, but Elijah looked like he was trying to plan world domination. I would never forget the look on his face. In my later years, it would still haunt me. It was the first time I realized the kind of person my twin brother really was. He cared about no one but himself._

 _At about ten that night, Dad came out into the waiting room. He looked tired, but so happy. Clearly the baby was here._

" _Okay, boys, you can come see your mom and meet your baby brother now," he said. "But be very gentle. Mom's still very tired and she's in a lot of pain, okay?"_

 _Elijah and I followed our dad into Mom's hospital room, where we found her sitting in the bed holding the baby._

" _Boys, this is your new baby brother, Wesley," she said, smiling._

 _I went up to Mom's bed and Dad lifted me up so I could kneel next to her and give her a hug. I was so careful not to hurt her. I remembered what Dad had said. And from the second I looked at my baby brother, I loved him to pieces. I knew he'd be the brother I'd wished Elijah was. I had visions of Wesley and me growing up to be the best of friends, practically inseparable. Like I wished Elijah and I would be. I gave Mom a kiss on the cheek and then gently, being careful not to wake him, gave the baby a kiss on the forehead._

 _Then it was Elijah's turn. He was so rough with Mom, and I could tell he was doing it on purpose. He was upset that he wasn't the center of attention. And I could also tell that he woke the baby up on purpose. Wesley started crying, of course. Because that was what babies did when they woke up. Everyone knew that. Except, apparently, for Elijah._

" _Make him stop crying," Elijah said. "Make him stop. I don't like it."_

 _Even at four years old, I couldn't understand how Elijah didn't get that this was the one time in his life when it wasn't all about him. I couldn't understand why he didn't love Wesley as much as I did. At the time, none of us knew the truth: he couldn't love anyone. He couldn't feel any emotions at all. And because of that, there was only one thing he wasn't capable of. Remorse._

 _The first time any of us realized there was something very different about Elijah was about a month later. Elijah had waited until all of us were asleep and pretended to be asleep as well. And then, ever so quietly, he snuck into the nursery and climbed into the crib with Wesley. He tried to smother our baby brother with his blanket, and would have succeeded if not for the baby monitor my parents had in the room. They heard Elijah grunting as he tightened his hold around the blanket and pushed it harder against the baby's face._

 _By some miracle, Wesley survived that night without any serious injuries. But I spent a heart-stopping night in the hospital with my mom. She kept asking Elijah why he would do something like that and the only response he would give was that Wesley cried too much. I was still so young, but that was when I figured out that something was wrong with my twin brother. I couldn't understand how anyone could harm a sweet, innocent baby._

 _Dad took Elijah home when the doctors told us that Wesley was out of danger but would have to stay the night so they could monitor him, and Mom wanted him to take me too. But I refused to leave my baby brother's side. I literally just sat there next to the incubator the whole night, reaching through the little hole and holding Wesley's tiny hand in mine. That night, I made a vow to myself and to Wesley that I was going to be the best big brother in the whole world. I was going to give him enough love for both me and Elijah, because I felt like I had to make up for his shortcomings. I somehow felt responsible for the way Elijah had behaved. After all, we were twins._

###################

 _For Wesley's fourth birthday, our parents got him a puppy. It was the only thing he said he wanted. Wesley and I both immediately fell in love with the puppy, who Wesley named Max. Of course. A stereotypical dog name. What else would a four-year-old name a dog?_

 _I tried to ignore the look on Elijah's face when our parents brought Max out to Wesley. I could have sworn he looked excited, but in a completely different way. He saw this puppy as something he could hurt, but without the consequences that trying to hurt his little brother had come with._

 _He'd never tried to kill Wesley again, but he was very rough with him. Wesley had plenty of unexplained bumps and bruises, and at the tender age of three had broken his arm in a spiral fracture, but refused to tell anyone how it had happened. Once again, I refused to leave his side at the hospital. I went with him to get the x-ray and held his good hand as the doctors put a cast on his arm. I tried to tell him how cool the cast was and drew all over it for him, all of his favorite things._

 _I knew how he'd broken his arm. It didn't take a genius to figure it out. But for some reason, our parents couldn't see it. They couldn't see that there was something very wrong with their precious son. What parent does want to realize their son is capable of absolutely anything except remorse? That there was no limit to the things he would do to hurt any of us, but especially his younger brother? For some reason, he seemed to save all of his worst malice for Wesley. I had my fair share of injuries courtesy of Elijah, but nothing compared to what he dished out to poor little Wesley. I was as strong as he was; I could fight back. Wesley couldn't._

 _It wasn't even a week later that we started noticing injuries on the dog. Signs of abuse. The tip of his tail was singed off, but there was no sign of a fire anywhere. He had a cut on his paw, but he'd been inside all day. I was terrified. I knew what was happening, and I hated to imagine what the end result was going to be. But again, our parents tried to explain it all away. They didn't notice how the dog seemed terrified to be in the same room with Elijah. How he'd always cower next to me or Wesley whenever Elijah was around._

 _I would remember my four-year-old brother's terrified, agonizing scream a few months later for as long as I lived. I was the first one who got out to the back yard after that. And I had to throw up when I saw what Wesley had found. It was Max, or what was left of him. He was mangled and cut open, and it looked like someone had been playing with his insides. And Elijah was nowhere to be found._

" _Don't you see it?" I screamed at my mom that night. "Elijah did this. He had to."_

" _He couldn't have done it, Ezra," my mom said calmly. "Where would he have gotten the knife?"_

" _Um, the kitchen. He can reach the drawers, Mom."_

" _But why? Why would he do something like that?"_

" _I don't know, Mom. I don't know. But I know he did this."_

 _My mom refused to see it. She and my dad just buried Max in the backyard and covered the whole thing up, trying to forget it. Even though Elijah looked like it was Christmas that night. He looked like he'd had so much fun that day. It made me want to throw up all over again. And just to be safe, we never had another pet after that. Maybe some part of her knew I was right._

###################

 _Elijah and I were twelve when my mom finally saw the light. Apparently she'd had enough trips to the emergency room. Child services had been called a couple of times, but being the socialite she was, she'd just made some very generous donations to children's charities and they'd looked the other way. But after Wesley had an unexplained fall that left him in the hospital with a broken leg, she finally had Elijah taken in for psychiatric testing._

 _He was diagnosed as being mentally ill. I knew better. I knew they just couldn't diagnose him as what he really was. My mom had him committed to a children's psychiatric facility, where they had the best rehabilitation rate in the whole state. Even at the age of twelve, I knew there was no rehabilitating my twin brother. He would always be a sociopath._

###################

 _On Elijah and I's eighteenth birthday, he was released. And oh, was he good. He had everyone convinced he was rehabilitated for a while. Everyone but me. I still saw the same cold look in his eyes that I'd always seen. And this time, he seemed hell-bent on making my life a living hell. He scared Maggie half to death almost as soon as he met her. He tried to sabotage my college applications so I would stay in New York. And this time, all of his malice was directed at me, but much more subtly. Apparently Wesley was too easy now. He'd moved on to bigger prey. Someone who was more of a challenge._

 _But then, without warning, Elijah disappeared. There was no trace of him anywhere in our town. But we all knew, even my parents, that it couldn't be that easy. He was just laying low until he could really exact his revenge on all of us for locking him up for all those years. And he would start with me, because I was the one who was his exact replica. His doppelganger. But also his polar opposite. Where all there was in Elijah was darkness, the only part of myself I acknowledged was the light. I was terrified that somewhere inside me, the same capabilities existed. After all, I shared his exact genetic makeup. But if that part of me existed, I refused to let it ever come to the surface._

 _My mom and I both realized that I had to transfer to Hollis and leave New York when Maggie found out she was pregnant. My mom basically paid Maggie a lot of money to just go take care of it and never speak to me again. Not because she didn't care, but because she cared that much. She cared about what would happen if Elijah found out I had a child. That was when she realized I had to leave too. And that I had to change my name. I had to do everything I could to go off the grid and disappear so Elijah wouldn't find me. I would never really have a life of my own, never really be able to be happy and settle down with anyone, as long as Elijah was out there._

 _So off I went to Hollis. I transferred to Bumblefuck, Nowhere, also known as Rosewood, Pennsylvania. And I became a Fitz. It wasn't really that creative, but somehow I couldn't abandon my family name by changing it completely. Maybe some part of me was hoping that Elijah would find me so I could finally end this once and for all and really be able to find peace, and maybe have a chance at happiness._

 _And I finally found that chance, when I met Aria. She was…perfect. Completely, absolutely perfect. And honestly, the fact that we had to keep our relationship a secret was actually a good thing. Less chance of Elijah finding me and finding out that there was something in my life he could exploit. Hurting Aria would be worse than hurting me. If he laid a finger on Aria, I would kill him myself._

###################

 _I found out that Elijah was closer than ever to me when my mom offered Aria money to break up with me. I knew she didn't approve of Aria's age, but I also knew she wasn't going to meddle in the life I'd managed to carve out for myself without a damn good reason. Not seeing how happy I finally was with her. She'd even sent me a text after meeting Aria and told me that she liked her a lot. She still thought Aria was way too young for me, but seeing us together, she knew I was finally happy and that was what mattered to her more than anything else. That was why it had made no sense to me that she'd offered Aria money to break up with me the next day._

 _When I called to confront her about it, that was when she'd told me that I was being too careless. Elijah had figured out that I was in Pennsylvania, and it was only a matter of time before he found me. She didn't want someone as young and innocent as Aria caught up in this. I fought back, telling her that it would be more dangerous for Aria if we did break up. It wouldn't take a genius to figure out that I still cared about her, even if she left me, and I'd be able to protect her better by keeping her close._

###################

When I drove into Ravenswood, I parked my car where no one would see and walked around town, trying to catch my brother somewhere. He wouldn't be hard to spot. All I'd have to do would be look for someone who looked exactly like me.

But instead of finding my brother there, I saw Aria and her friends instead. They were walking into a store, clearly hot on the A trail. Or so they thought. I had to wonder if my brother had somehow gotten caught up in all this, if the road they thought would lead them to A was actually leading them to Elijah. That twisted game would have been right up his alley.

I decided I couldn't waste any more time. I had to go to the address my mom had given me. She'd been trying to find him too, trying to help me stop him.

"Ezra?" I heard a voice that I hadn't heard in over two years.

I turned around, and I saw a very frightened Alison DiLaurentis. Time had not been kind to her. She looked at least five years older than when I'd last seen her, on the night she disappeared. What kind of horrors had she endured in the two years she'd spent away from home while everyone had thought she was dead?

"Alison? You're alive?" I asked, unable to hide my shock.

"Yeah, and you know, it's funny, I could have sworn I'd seen you around here the past month or so, but then when I turned around, you were gone. I thought I was imagining things."

Oh, Christ. He _was_ here. At least he didn't know Alison was one of Aria's friends. Not yet.

"Alison, I want you to listen to me very carefully," I told her. "I'm going to tell you something no one else knows. Not even Aria."

She laughed. "So it's true about you and Aria? You got over your hang-up about age apparently."

I had to smile a little at the mention of Aria. God, I had it bad.

"Yeah, it's true," I told her. "But that's not what's important right now. That person you thought you saw? That wasn't me. This is the first time I've ever set foot in Ravenswood. Please tell me you didn't try to talk to him."

"No, I never had the chance. Why? Ezra, what aren't you telling me?"

I sighed. If Alison was going to be out on her own with no one to protect her, she needed to know. Because it wouldn't be long before Elijah figured out the connection between Aria and Alison. And then he'd try to get to Alison, to get to Aria, to get to me. He was just that twisted.

"That guy? His name is Elijah Fitzgerald. He's my twin brother," I said. "And he's dangerous."

"Dangerous?"

"Listen, have you seen where he goes around here? Where he lives, maybe?"

"I think so, but Ezra, what do you mean he's dangerous?"

"I mean just that. He's dangerous. He's a sociopath. I don't have time to tell you the whole story of my childhood right now and make you understand the things he's capable of, but just please take me at my word, whatever that's still worth to you."

"Okay, I believe you," Alison said. "Um, do you see that store right there? The one Aria and the rest of the girls just went into?"

"Yeah?"

"There's an alley right next to it. I think there's a door there and it leads to a loft. I've seen the guy I thought was you going there a few times. I think that's where he's staying."

"Thank you, Alison," I told her. "Listen, if you talk to Aria, please don't tell her. I haven't figured out a way to tell her about this yet, and I want her to hear it from me. I'm here trying to stop him before he realizes hurting Aria and the rest of your friends is a good way to hurt me."

"Wow, you really do have it bad. Okay, I won't tell her about your brother if you don't tell her I'm alive," she said. "Deal?"

"Deal," I chuckled. "Thanks again."

I walked away shaking my head a little. How had my life come to revolve so completely around five seventeen-year-old girls? Really? But I wouldn't have had it any other way. And right now wasn't the time to question my life choices. Right now, I needed to protect all of them no matter the cost to me.

I went down the alley Alison had told me about and sure enough there was a door there. I picked the lock and followed a staircase up to a single loft. I picked that lock too and walked in to find my worst nightmare come to life.

Elijah had found out about the girls already. He'd found out everything about all of them. This room was like a creepy shrine to them. Or, more like intensive research about all of their lives. Especially Aria. God, no. He'd figured it out. I just sat there looking around at all of the research he'd done and it truly frightened me. There were copies of some of the short stories and writing assignments Aria had done for my class. Copies of the personal writing she'd never let anyone but me read. There was enough research here on all of the girls that he could probably hold me prisoner and take my place and no one would be the wiser for a good long while.

Wait, what had I just said to myself? He could hold me prisoner and take my place and no one would be the wiser? Jesus Christ, that was it! That was his plan. It had to be. But to what end? Why? And what would he do when Aria figured it out? I knew she would. Maybe the other three (or four, if Alison revealed herself and came back to Rosewood) wouldn't figure it out, but Aria knew me well enough. She'd be able to tell the difference eventually. There would be enough subtle differences in the way he treated her that she'd be able to figure it out. He wasn't capable of love at all, much less the kind of deep, all-consuming love I felt for her. And that was bound to come through in some way or another.

I was equal parts absolutely terrified and angrier than I'd ever been in my entire life. Completely overcome with those dueling emotions, I couldn't do anything other than slam the open closet door shut and scream.

Well, if that was what Elijah wanted, he wasn't going to get it without a fight. I would figure something out. I'd figure out a way to stop him before he did that. Because if he took my place, none of those girls would be safe. Spencer was also smart enough. It would take her longer, but she'd figure out that something wasn't right too. If she figured it out, she'd tell the rest of them, and then no one would be safe. Once the girls figured out it wasn't me, Elijah would have only one logical course of action. He'd kill them with a smile on his face. He'd have no qualms about it. Hell, he'd probably make me watch while he did it, and he'd save Aria for last.

Maybe his plan was to make me realize that some part of me was like him too. Because if a hair on any of those girls' heads was harmed, I would kill Elijah myself. The part of my nature that I'd always kept at bay, the part I'd refused to acknowledge, would come to the surface in an explosive way. What I'd do to Elijah if he hurt these girls I'd come to care so much about would pale in comparison to what he did to them. He'd beg me to kill him way before I ever actually delivered the fatal blow.


	2. Capture

**Ezra**

I made sure not to disturb anything as I walked out of Elijah's…whatever the hell that place was. His lair? He couldn't know I'd been there. He couldn't know I'd figured it out yet. Not until I figured out how to stop him. I tried to take some deep breaths to calm myself down, but it wasn't working. God, this was insane. And terrifying. I wanted to just go cower in a corner. And if it was just about me, I would have. But this wasn't just about me. It was about the girl I loved and the people she loved. So I had to be strong. I had to be strong so I could protect her.

Alison was waiting in the alley when I came out.

"Alison, what are you doing here?" I asked.

"Well, he couldn't very well go up there while you were there, could he?" she said. "I figured I'd keep watch and stall him if he came."

Maybe she looked much older than she really was, but acting like this, Alison was proving just how immature she was. And right now, she was meddling in things that were much too dangerous for her to be meddling in.

"Alison, look, I appreciate that you want to help me, but the way you can help me is by staying out of my way and keeping yourself out of trouble," I told her.

"Ezra, I'm not just some kid anymore," she insisted. "I've had to survive on my own for over two years now. I can handle myself, and if your brother is as dangerous as you say he is, you're going to need all the help you can get."

I sighed. She wasn't going anywhere. Well maybe, even if she didn't reveal herself to the girls, she could keep an eye on them tonight. It was Halloween, after all, and Ravenswood was not exactly the safest place for a bunch of teenage girls to be, regardless of whether or not there was a homicidal sociopath who looked exactly like someone they trusted roaming the streets.

"Okay, listen, you can help me tonight by keeping an eye out for your friends, even if you choose not to tell them you're there. If you think you see me approach them at all, it's not me. It's him. I'm not going to tell them I'm here tonight. Do you understand me?"

"Yes, I understand," she said, her voice shaking a little.

"Thank you," I said. "Now, please go and find them. Be safe."

"I will," she said. "You, too."

I sighed and left the alley as soon as Alison was out of my sight. I wasn't even sure what my plan was. How was I supposed to find Elijah, especially on Halloween when everyone was dressed up?

I did know one thing. I couldn't just leave Aria without some kind of warning. I wanted so badly to tell her to question everything she saw. That if she saw me, she needed to ask me something only I would know. But I couldn't do that. Because if my brother did find her first and he failed that test, the consequences would be disastrous. I would tell her everything. But when it was safe. And it wasn't safe right now. I could tell her to be careful at least though. I pulled out my phone and hit her number on the speed dial. It went straight to voicemail, like she had no service. Damn it. I kept trying until it finally went through and the phone rang.

"Hey, there," Aria answered on the second ring.

"Hey," I said, trying to keep the panic out of my voice. "I've been trying to reach you. Where are you?"

"Look, it's actually not a great time to talk. I'm standing in a graveyard."

"You're what?" What in the hell was she doing?

"I'm in Ravenswood," she said. "But I'll call you later, okay?"

Damn it. She was still here. I hated her being in the same zip code as my brother. I wanted to tell her to get as far away from here as she could, but that would just lead to questions that I couldn't answer right now.

"Aria?" I said. "You need to be careful." It was the best I could do.

"Yeah, I will," she said. "I promise. Bye."

And then she hung up. Damn it. I wanted to call her right back, but again, that would just lead to questions. I took a deep breath, and I went out into the crowd. At a distance, I saw Aria and her friends in the graveyard. And across the way, there was Alison, hiding in the shadows, watching them. Okay, they were safe for the moment.

And before I could do anything else, I heard a familiar, chilling voice behind me.

"You let your guard down, brother," Elijah said.

I hadn't heard that voice in over five years, but it was still as terrifying as the day he'd left. It sounded ice-cold. Void of feeling or emotion. I knew I'd been right about everything. He wanted to completely unravel my life while I watched, just because he could. Because he hated me and the rest of our family for locking him up as a child. The only thing that might buy the girls (and me) some time would be if the illusion was convincing enough that they thought Elijah really was me.

"Did I?" I said, turning around and feeling like I was looking into a mirror that showed some alternative reality. What I would look like if I was a serial killer.

"You did. And all for some girl," he said. "And now, you're going to watch while I completely unravel her life, and yours."

"You're not going to get away with it, Elijah," I told him. "She'll know. They all will."

"We'll see about that," he said, and he raised his hand up, holding a cloth.

Crap. It didn't take a genius to figure out that there was probably a drug on that cloth to knock me unconscious. Chloroform, perhaps. Immediately, I went for a throat jab and then turned and ran. I was a little surprised when he didn't catch me within seconds. Knocking the wind out of Elijah wouldn't have given me that much of a head start on him. But I ran for a good ten minutes, ducking in and out of alleys and stores, trying to avoid him. Maybe he got a thrill out of the chase.

I literally ran right into Alison in the middle of the cemetery. I hadn't even realized she was in front of me until I almost knocked her over.

"Ezra, what's going on?"

"Alison, get out of here!" I said. "Now!"

"Is he…?"

"No time. Just go."

"Ezra—"

"Alison, I'm not going to tell you again. Get the hell out of here. And don't tell your friends about this. Promise me. Please. Their lives depend on it."

"Okay, I promise. God, Ezra…" she sobbed.

Alison turned and ran somewhere out of immediate sight, but she didn't leave. She was watching me, and she knew what was coming before I did. I saw her eyes widen a second before I felt an arm across my chest and the cloth in my face. The last thing I saw before I passed out was Alison's terrified expression, realizing that she couldn't do anything to help me or warn her friends about the coming danger.

I woke up in the trunk of a car wearing nothing but boxers and an undershirt. He'd taken my clothes. Apparently he wanted to complete the illusion. Or something. I took a minute to survey the situation and try to figure out what my next move was. If I even had one to make. At the moment, the situation looked pretty hopeless.

My hands were tied together tightly, and so were my feet. And this was a small sedan. There wasn't a lot of wiggle room in this trunk. And it was an older model, so it didn't have one of those latches to pull and open the trunk from inside. Probably _my_ small sedan, I realized. If Elijah was going to take over my life, it had to look like there was nothing different at all.

I could try kicking one of the taillights out, but that would take forever. Then again, the car was parked right now. It wasn't moving. Maybe I had time. If I could just roll over. I was facing away from the lights. I could tell that much in the pitch black. I had barely enough room to move at all, much less turn completely over. After at least fifteen minutes, I hadn't managed even to get on my back, let alone roll onto my other side. I was definitely going to end up with rug burn if nothing else. And after hitting a couple of things I couldn't see in the trunk, I would definitely have some bumps and bruises and I might very well never have children.

As my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I vaguely saw that there were tools all over the damn place in this trunk. It had never been this messy in the entire time I'd owned it. Seriously, it seemed like he'd put the entire tool kit all around me just to keep me from…wait, that was probably exactly what he'd done. He'd taken all of the tools out of the tool kit I kept in here and put them all around me, creating a great obstacle if I did decide to play hero and try to break out of here and save the girls. And there was a huge problem with this. There was a small saw and a small hacksaw in the tool kit. They were both bound to be somewhere in here, probably propped against something else so as to inflict maximum injury. I tried to feel around for them as much as I could, but I couldn't find them anywhere. Well, I'd have to risk it. This wasn't about me. This was about Aria. And Spencer. And Emily. And Hanna. And Alison, who had now been thrown into the middle of this too.

I struggled again, and finally managed to get onto my back. I reached my hands over and felt around, trying to clear enough space to safely roll over onto my other side. It took another ten minutes or so, but I finally did it. The strange thing, I realized, was that during this time, nothing happened. The car didn't move. It had been at least half an hour. What the hell was Elijah doing?

The other thing that worried me was that I still hadn't found the saws. I felt around for where the tail lights would be, and I felt the hacksaw where my hands could reach one of them. I made quick work of cutting the ties on my wrists. And logically, that meant the actual saw was where my feet would be able to get to the other light. I moved my feet carefully to where the light would be, making sure to go slow enough that I wouldn't cut myself. And I found the saw. I used the saw to cut the bindings around my ankles, then grabbed it with my feet and moved it out of the way of the tail light.

But before I could start kicking, I felt the car start. We were moving. But we literally drove right around the corner before stopping again. I heard the car door open.

"Ezra?" I heard Aria's voice.

Shit. He'd clearly done something to sabotage the girls and he had been just sitting there lying in wait. That was why we had gone so long without moving.

"I've been calling, but you didn't answer," Elijah said. "I was getting worried."

"Hey," Aria said.

Well, if that was going to be how Elijah acted with Aria, she'd tell him to get lost within a week. Or worse, she'd figure out his game. She hated feeling smothered and she also knew I trusted her more than that. I would never actually drive to a different town to check up on her just because she didn't answer her cell phone, no matter if we had actually been together or not. Not unless I knew for sure she was in danger.

"Flat tire?" Elijah asked casually.

Something told me he had been the one to make that tire go flat. And he had probably taken the spare tire too. But for what purpose?

"Yeah, and she doesn't have the spare," I heard Hanna say.

Well, I'd been right about him taking the spare.

"Well, it's late," Elijah said. "Why don't I give you guys a ride home?"

"Sold," Hanna said.

I should have figured that out on my own. He'd needed an in with them. A way to get himself familiarized with the girls and make them trust him. A familiar face, someone they trusted, offering them a ride home when they were in trouble would be the perfect way to do that.

"Well, come on, Spencer," Aria said. "We'll just send someone for your car tomorrow, okay?"

We made the half hour drive back to Rosewood, and I realized that I couldn't try anything to get out of the trunk. Not with the girls in the car. Damn it. Elijah was actually going to get away with this. I had no choice but to let him take me wherever he was planning on taking me. And be tortured by the fact that he would surely start trying to win Aria back as me. Hopefully he didn't push her too much. I never did that. I'd always let our relationship be on her terms. If he started pushing too hard, she would know something was up. And, as twisted as it sounded, I wanted her to think Elijah was me for as long as possible. Because that would be the thing that would keep her alive. As soon as she figured it out and let it on to him, there would officially be a ticking clock on her life.

As soon as Elijah dropped the girls off, he turned the car around. I couldn't tell how long we drove for. I was too busy trying to figure out how to get out of this and get to New York so I could get Wesley and stop Elijah from hurting these girls. They were seventeen, for God's sake. They were too young for this. They were too young to be pawns in Elijah's revenge game.

About an hour later, we stopped. Elijah opened the trunk and drug me out as roughly as he could. We were at the cabin I'd bought from a friend for dirt cheap right around the time everything had been happening with Malcolm. I had actually planned on surprising Aria with this cabin, showing her that she was still the most important person in my life, but she'd broken up with me before I could. We'd always talked about having a place where we could just go to escape everything that was happening in our lives, where it would be just the two of us. No cell service, no Internet, no connection to the outside world. The only thing that was modern was the security system I'd installed. I hadn't been here for months, and when I'd come here literally the only thing I'd done was install that security system. Just because I knew I wasn't going to be here that often. Every time I came, it just reminded me of the fact that it was meant to be something I shared with Aria.

I didn't know how Elijah had found out about this place. But I knew he couldn't have gotten in. Maybe he had staked the place out and decided to make this his home base, but I knew he'd never been inside. Not unless he was a master hacker. The code for the security system was something only Aria or I would know.

Elijah had a gun held to my head, and there wasn't a doubt in my mind that it was loaded. He dragged me to the front door and stood in front of the pad for the security system. You had to enter the code before you even walked in the door.

"What's the code?" he said.

"Why would you think I would help you?" I asked weakly, still a little woozy from the drug he'd used to knock me out. "Go ahead and kill me. Just get it over with. Then you'll have no reason to hurt any of those girls."

"Oh, no, brother," Elijah spat. "You don't get to end it that easy. And you don't get to die protecting your precious Aria. No, you're going to watch every last thing I do to her and her little friends."

"You're sick," I said, fighting a sob. I wasn't going to show him any weakness.

"Jesus, you sound like Mom," he said. "Thinking I'm sick and need to be cured. Now tell me the code, or I'll bring you one of Aria's fingers as a gift the next time I come out here."

I had no doubt that he meant it. But still, I wasn't about to tell him anything about my relationship with Aria that could help him win her back. I would tell him the code, but I would just spell it out rather than say it the way it was meant to be said.

"B-2-6," I said, saying each digit individually.

Elijah dragged me inside and started scouring around the entire cabin, I assumed looking for someplace to hide me. And finally he found the spot. A secret underground cellar right next to the bed. He opened up the cellar and forced me down the stairs. There was even a chair down there already. He sat me down in it and slapped me in the face.

"How does it feel to be the one who's locked up, brother?" he taunted.

"Stop calling me brother," I spat. "We may share the same genes, but you are _not_ my family. You and I are _nothing_ alike."

"Oh, I think you'll feel a little differently by the time I'm done with you," he laughed. "So, anyway, you're picking them kind of young these days. Tell me, what made you go for Aria? Spencer is _way_ hotter. Or Emily."

I just chuckled dryly. "Good luck with getting either one of them. Spencer's taken, and you're not exactly Emily's type."

"Aria's taken too, now. What's _up_ with that, by the way? Really. You couldn't hold on to a seventeen-year-old girl? I guess you weren't enough of a man for her. Couldn't get it up? Or was it that you didn't make sure _her_ needs were met? I mean, seriously, it's not like she even had anything to compare it to. You must _really_ suck in bed."

I tried to stand up and fight him. Hearing him talk about any woman like this, nothing more than a sexual object, made me sick to my stomach. But hearing him talking about the woman I loved more than my own life like this? I would kill him with my bare hands before he even had a chance to touch her. But there was still clearly some of whatever drug he'd used to knock me out in my system, because I couldn't even last three seconds on my feet before falling down on the floor. I hadn't even been able to get a good punch in first.

"I'm sorry, did I strike a nerve?" Elijah taunted, laughing, as he sat me back in the chair and slapped me in the face again. "Remind you of why you lost her? It _was_ issues in the bedroom, wasn't it?"

"You stay the hell away from her," I said, a few of the tears I'd been trying so desperately to hold back creeping into the corners of my eyes.

"No, that's right. It was Malcolm. The kid who turned out not to even be your kid," he laughed. "I can't wait to meet him."

"Don't even think about touching him," I said through gritted teeth. "This is between you and me, Elijah. There's no need to involve anyone else."

"Oh, but there is. See, you care about other people more than yourself. So if I want to hurt you, the best way to do that is hurt people you care about. What's that like, by the way? It sounds exhausting."

"Obviously you'll never know," I spat.

Right now caring about other people was ripping the still-beating heart right out of my chest over and over again. Not because of what Elijah was doing to me. I could do this all day long. It was because I knew what was going to happen as soon as Elijah left me here. He was going to go back to Rosewood and take over my life, and eventually terrorize Aria and her friends before bringing them here to kill them in front of me, one by one. But I couldn't stop caring, and I couldn't ever stop fighting to help them. Because if I did, there would be nothing left of me. Nothing but him. And I refused to let myself turn into him.

"Well, listen, I'd love to stay and chat, but I've got a _Jekyll and Hyde_ lesson to plan and a stack of tests to grade," Elijah said. "Oh, and a girl to win back. Don't worry, though. I'll be back soon. To set up the feed to the surveillance cameras I'm installing so you can see everything I'm doing to your girlfriend and her friends. You'll have plenty of entertainment to keep you busy. But since I can't have you getting out of here before that…"

And there was the cloth again, knocking me out within seconds.


	3. Inkling

_( **WARNING!** There is some bedroom activity in this chapter that is not entirely consensual since Aria doesn't know it's not Ezra she's with. So, if you're triggered by reading about rape, you might want to stop about three-quarters of the way through this chapter.)_

 **Aria**

As Ezra drove my friends and I back to Rosewood, something was just bugging me about the whole situation. How had he found us? And right when we needed him? He'd said he'd been calling, but I didn't have any missed calls from him. Had I really just not had any cell service every single time? It was just…odd. I tried to just brush off the feeling that something was wrong. After all, this was _Ezra_. It wasn't like he was dangerous. He wasn't trying to hurt us. He was the one who had rescued us.

He did seem oddly intense though. And quiet. He was never like this around my friends. Maybe at first, but not now. We'd gotten past that. Except that things were different now. He wasn't seeing me anymore. We were friends, but it wasn't like it had been before. Maybe this was just awkward for him. Giving his ex-girlfriend, who he clearly still had feelings for, and her three best friends a ride home from a different town probably wasn't his idea of a good time. That was probably all this weird mood was.

To be fair, we weren't exactly being Chatty Cathys either. I could have sworn I'd seen Alison in Ravenswood. It was like she was playing a cat and mouse game with us. And she was the mouse. Always one step ahead of us. Around the next corner. Just too far ahead to tell for sure if it was really her. And it wasn't like we could talk about that, which was clearly what was on all of our minds, while we were in the car with Ezra.

Ezra dropped us off outside Spencer's house, and we all got out.

"Aria," he called.

"Go on ahead, guys. I'll catch up," I told my friends.

"Yeah?" I said, leaning on his car window.

"Look, I know this isn't the time, but we really need to talk," he said. "Tomorrow? After school?"

"Yeah, sure, tomorrow," I said, standing up. "I'll see you in class."

"Okay," he said.

I turned around, and as soon as he drove away, there was a flash of red. Everyone else clearly saw it too, because we all ran into Spencer's yard like our lives depended on it. We got there to find a familiar-looking figure wearing a red coat with a hood.

"Alison?" I asked.

She took her hood off, revealing her signature wavy blonde hair. It was definitely her. Or a damn good look-alike. But then she turned around, and it was like I was seeing a ghost. Except that she was clearly here this time. It was Alison. She was alive.

"Did you miss me?" she said, sounding close to tears. She was obviously scared, but of what?

"It was you, wasn't it?" I asked. "In Ravenswood?"

"Look, I don't have much time," she said in a shaky voice. "It's still not safe for me to be here."

"Ali, don't leave again," Emily said.

"Look, I want to come home," Alison said. "But you have to help me."

"Why?" Spencer asked. "Who are you afraid of?"

"Remember what I told you at the hospital, Hanna?"

"That was really you?" Hanna asked.

There was a rustling behind us, like someone was coming. We turned to look behind us, and then looked back at Alison. She put a finger to her lips and looked absolutely terrified.

"Shh," she whispered.

We turned around again, and Ezra was walking back towards us. He couldn't have been who she was so afraid of. She didn't even know Ezra. Did she? No, she was probably just scared of being found out while A was still out there.

"Aria?" he called.

I walked back towards him, confused. We were going to talk after class tomorrow. What was he doing back here? He reached into his pocket and pulled my phone out.

"You forgot your cell phone," he said, handing it to me.

I took it back from him, now thoroughly confused. I could have _sworn_ I had put it in my purse. How had it fallen out? Well, at least he'd found it. Clearly my head wasn't screwed on tight tonight. Then again, who could blame me? I'd only seen a friend come back from the dead.

I turned back to where Alison had been standing just seconds before, and she was nowhere in sight. She was gone again. God, had that just happened? Really? Was she really alive, or was she just a figment of our imaginations? I didn't know anymore.

The next day at school was a blur. I literally couldn't concentrate on any of my classes. Until English. Thank God Ezra was teaching here again. He kept me grounded. He always had. And we were starting something new today, so it was something different I could focus on. _The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde_. Not exactly his normal teaching material, but it was just after Halloween. Maybe he was going for creepy for the season. He did try to connect with high schoolers, and he was always good at it.

"Now, you all know the plot to _Jekyll and Hyde_ , but you don't know the story," he started. "That happens with great writing. It gets turned into clichés and we lose the raw power of the original. But the original, in this case, is _amazing_. Stevenson was so caught up with his story that he wrote the draft in three days."

Then the bell rang. Thank God. Today was over. I could just go and talk to my friends and try to process everything we'd just found out.

"Well, listen, clear your mind of all the knockoffs and make sure you're ready to discuss," Ezra said as we started to walk out of the class. "Miss Montgomery? Can I see you for a moment?"

Right. He'd said that he wanted to talk to me.

"I'll catch up with you guys in a minute," I said to my friends.

Ezra and I waited until the class was empty, and I sat in a desk in the front row. Usually, he would sit in a desk next to me, or in front of or behind me. Put himself on my level, symbolically. But today, for some reason, he just leaned against his desk and stood there in front of me. It was probably nothing, but it made me a little uncomfortable, and I couldn't put my finger on why.

"I want to say something, and I'm…I'm saying this with no expectations," he started. "I put you in an impossible position with Malcolm. I thought I could make all the pieces fit. And…I did that because I didn't want to have to give you up. That was incredibly selfish."

"I'm sorry," I said.

I still felt like us breaking up was my fault. If I had just been more mature, more of the adult that he'd always treated me as, maybe I could have made this work with him. But I knew it was too dangerous for me to be with him while Malcolm was a part of his life. Because A would have tried to hurt Malcolm to get to me. And I couldn't put a seven-year-old in the middle of this twisted nightmare.

"No," Ezra said. "This is my apology. One way or another, I think my days are numbered here."

"Yeah, mine too," I chuckled. God, I couldn't wait to get out of this place.

"I know I've probably used up all my chances with you, but after you graduate and we both leave this place, I would like to try and be the person you think I am."

The person I thought he was? What was he talking about? It wasn't about what I thought. It was about what I knew. I knew Ezra was a good person, and one of the most selfless people that I'd ever met. This was the most forward he had ever been with me. Ever. He'd always done things on my terms, not on his. When I'd broken up with him, he'd let it happen. "If that's what you want." That was what he'd said.

I stood up and went to shut the door to his classroom, which for some reason he'd left open while we were having this little heart-to-heart.

"Ezra, you already are that person," I told him, putting my hand on his arm. "You're one of the best people I know. You always have been."

He smiled a little, but it looked…wrong. I couldn't explain it. Like his heart wasn't in it. Whenever he smiled at me, I could see his feelings coming through, whether he was amused or happy or in love. This felt like he was just smiling because he thought he was supposed to. Maybe he was just nervous, though. This was the first time he'd ever actually come out and basically said he wanted me back.

"Listen," I continued. "When I broke up with you, it wasn't about you. It was about me. And I know that sounds like a line, but it's not. It killed me, but I just wasn't ready for the responsibility of being part of Malcolm's life. Everything else in my life was just so confusing, I needed something simple."

"Or someone simple," he said. "Like Jake. I mean…that came out wrong."

I chuckled. "It's okay. I know what you mean. And you're right. It is simple with him."

Simple, maybe, but it was missing something, and I knew that. I liked Jake a lot. He was sweet and caring and I knew he had only my best interests in mind. But…well, he wasn't Ezra. There wasn't the fire and passion that my relationship with Ezra had. I knew Ezra would take me back in a heartbeat. Clearly he wanted me back. But I just needed time to work things out.

"Look, you know Malcolm isn't a factor anymore," Ezra told me. "And I don't expect you to just drop Jake like a hot potato all of a sudden because of that, but I just want you to know that I'm still here. For whatever you need."

"I know," I said. "And I appreciate that. Look, I have to go. I'm supposed to help Emily with something."

"Yeah, of course. I'll see you tomorrow," he said.

"See you tomorrow," I said.

And then, almost without thinking, I kissed him on the cheek. Luckily, I was headed out the door anyway. God, I was confused. I didn't know what the hell he wanted. He was being forward, uncharacteristically so, but I wasn't sure what exactly he was hoping to accomplish with it. He wanted to try to be the person I thought he was, but after I graduated? What the hell did that even mean?

The conversation I had with my friends at the Brew wasn't helping my already fragile mental state either. Hanna had talked with this girl online who'd been part of a group of friends who had lost their ringleader the way we'd lost Alison. And then, without consulting us, she'd said that they wanted to meet us all for coffee. I wasn't sure I was ready for that. Especially not after finding out Alison was still alive.

Alison being alive. That was something else I hadn't even started to process yet. She'd been right there. Clearly alive. And clearly scared of someone. But she wouldn't tell us who she was scared of or what we were supposed to do to help her come back. Apparently we were supposed to figure that out on our own. Because senior year wasn't stressful enough. My friends and I had the A mystery to unravel and a friend to bring back from the dead. Jesus, this was messed up.

I wanted to hit something. If Jake hadn't been away at his tournament, I would have called him and had him give me an impromptu lesson. Martial arts was amazingly therapeutic. But he was in Harrisburg right now.

I was completely just…lost. I needed to feel grounded again. And the only person I knew who could help me with that was, well, Ezra. I knew I shouldn't. I knew it would only lead somewhere I really shouldn't go. But I pulled out my phone and called him.

"Aria," he answered immediately. "Are you okay?"

"Honestly, I don't know," I told him. "Look, are you free? Can you come pick me up?"

"Absolutely. Where should I meet you?"

I looked around. Somewhere close, but not too close. I couldn't have my friends see him pick me up. Not now. It would just lead to questions that I really didn't want to answer.

"In front of the library?" I asked. It was only a three minute walk from where I was.

"I'll be there in ten minutes," he said, and hung up.

I practically sprinted to the library and just paced back and forth until he got there. I couldn't shake the feeling that this was wrong. But Ezra was respectful. He wouldn't do anything to make me feel uncomfortable. If anything happened other than just a conversation, I knew it would be on me. And I wasn't sure if that made me feel better or worse, because I honestly didn't know if I was capable of rational thinking or sound judgement right now.

He picked me up and drove me to…a cabin in the middle of the woods. Well, it was certainly getting me away from everything going on in my life. Actually, it was exactly what I'd needed. He knew me well. Better than anyone else. We'd actually talked about how much we both wanted somewhere like this. Somewhere we could just come and be together and forget about everything else going on in our lives.

"This cabin belongs to a friend of the family," he told me. "He actually offered it to me for dirt cheap, but I'm still thinking about it. And I check on it for my friend when he's out of the country. I write here when I can. No cell service, no Internet. It's—it's close to town, but it's not too close. So it's kind of perfect."

"It's kind of like the place that we talked about once," I said, almost without thinking.

"Yeah," he agreed. "It is. But by the time he offered me the cabin, things had changed."

Okay, this was just too much. I was getting very mixed signals from him lately. I needed answers. Now.

"Ezra, I have to ask you a question," I said. "What do you want?"

"Right now? A time machine. We could…start over and I could avoid all the mistakes."

"Somebody might say that we were the big mistake," I said, but even I didn't believe that.

"I don't buy that," he said.

"I'm seeing someone," I reminded him.

"I know."

"Mr. Hackett watches me like a prison guard."

It was true. He knew I'd been involved with Ezra after Ezra resigned from Rosewood High and he was half-convinced that I'd never stopped being involved with him.

"I've noticed," he chuckled.

"And…I swear I would strangle Maggie if I ever got the chance," I sighed, and then I walked away from him. "It's—it's not just that things have changed. They're all just inside out and I…I wake up and I have to lie there for a couple minutes just—just trying to remember what's real."

Ezra pulled the key he'd used to unlock he cabin out of his pocket and walked up to me, putting it in my hand.

"We could have this place," he half-whispered. "That's real."

God, I wanted it. Right now, there was nothing in the world I wanted more. I wanted to never have to leave here again. To never have to go back to the real world again. But I knew this, like everything else, would end eventually end.

"For how long?" I asked.

"I don't know," he said. "It could be our secret."

And before I could even say anything else, he kissed me. He backed off immediately, just looking at me and waiting for me to make a move. It took me all of three seconds to pull him back in for another kiss. I couldn't stop myself. I needed this. I needed him. I knew it was wrong. I had a boyfriend. But at the moment, I just didn't care. I needed to feel something, anything, other than the utter confusion I was feeling right now.

As we committed an unspeakable act, one that I regretted even while it was happening, I couldn't help feeling that something was…off. The way he moved. The way he touched me. Even the way he kissed me. It didn't feel like his heart was in it. He was always so passionate and sweet in bed. Whenever we were together, it had always truly been making love. But this? This was just sex. It was like it didn't mean anything to him.

And something else was strange too. I could have sworn I'd heard something coming from the floor beneath us. A thumping. Like someone was under there and trying to get out. It had to just be the bed on the wooden floor though. There couldn't really be someone under the floor trying to get out. It wasn't like Ezra was a serial killer hiding a victim in a secret compartment in the floor or something.

As I sat across the room afterwards looking out the window, I realized it was probably all in my head. It was just because I regretted doing this while I was still with Jake. That had to be it. There was no way Ezra's heart wasn't in what we'd done. This was Ezra. I knew he loved me. It had to mean something to him. Right?

 **Ezra**

I knew what would happen as soon as I heard Aria's voice upstairs. As soon as I heard how confused she was about what was happening in her life. So clearly she'd seen Alison last night too. That had to have been what she meant by things being inside out. God, I wished it was me up there. I'd probably have taken her here tonight too, if I'd been the one on the other end of the phone when she called. I wouldn't have told her that it had been meant for us, but if it brought her comfort, gave her an escape from her troubles for a little while, it would have been worth it.

But of course, Elijah saw it as an opportunity to make his move. While she was emotional and vulnerable. And as I listened to what was happening upstairs, I wished I was dead. I'd rather he killed me than make me listen to that. She hadn't said no, but it was because she thought it was me. So the way I saw it, the way any rational person would see it, what he was doing was rape. Even he probably knew that; he just didn't care.

That's the crucial difference between a psychopath and a sociopath. I'd learned it when I was trying to figure out what it was that they refused to diagnose my brother as. Psychopaths literally have no moral compass. They have no concept of right and wrong. Sociopaths know when they're doing something wrong; they just don't care.

My brother definitely fell into the latter category. Even as a child, he'd always known when he was doing something wrong. He just didn't care. He didn't think about the consequences, and he didn't care whether what he was doing was right or wrong so long as it got him what he wanted. And right now, what my brother wanted was to make me suffer worse than I ever had before. If he had to rape a seventeen-year-old girl to do that, well, it was just a means to an end for him. And it was working. I had tears streaming down my face as I tried to gather up what strength I had to stop him.

He hadn't tied me down last night. He hadn't had to. I still had the chloroform, or whatever the hell it was, in my system. I hadn't even been able to stand up long enough to get one punch in last night.

Tonight, I was still weak. After all, I hadn't eaten, so there was nothing to help my body get rid of the drug in my system. But I could at least stand up. Fueled by my anger and blind rage towards my brother, I managed to get up the steep stairs. I pushed on the ceiling where the hatch would open, and it barely budged. It was like there was something heavy on top of it. Maybe a rug. That would make sense. The entire time they were up there, even after it was over, I kept trying to get the cellar to open. I would kill my brother with my bare hands before I ever let him touch Aria again. But it barely budged. Maybe I'd moved the rug like a foot, but it wasn't enough for me to be able to open the hatch.

When Elijah left to take Aria back home, I threw all I had at it. Now that I didn't have to worry about putting her life in danger if she found out I was down here, I could really work on getting that rug off and getting the hell out of here. But after about another forty-five minutes, I was too weak. I shoved it, and then I fell backwards down the stairs as I lost my balance. I would have gotten back up and gone at it again, but it felt like I'd broken my ankle in the fall. Or at least badly sprained it. I could barely put any pressure on it at all. It was all I could do to just get back to that damn chair.

It must have been at least midnight when I heard the door open again. He was back. Damn it. I wanted to kill him right now, and I had no energy. I couldn't even try to stand up. It hurt too much. But not two minutes later, the hatch opened and he was coming down the stairs.

"Figured you could use some sustenance, brother," Elijah said, handing me…I didn't even know what it was. A can of mush.

But honestly, I would have eaten dog food at this point. I was that hungry and wanted to get out of here that badly. If it would give me strength, I would eat it.

"Well, okay, maybe I _do_ see why you went for Aria," he taunted. "How the hell did you give _that_ up?"

"You're lucky I just used all my strength trying to break out of here, Elijah, because otherwise I would kill you with my bare hands," I told him. "She's seventeen. You just raped a seventeen-year-old girl. That's a new low, even for you."

"Dude, you could have gotten her back easily. It didn't even take me twenty-four hours. And I didn't even have to try that hard. She came here willingly. She got into bed with me willingly."

That was it. I had to try to stand up. I had to at least hit him once. And I did. I mustered up every last ounce of strength and fought through the pain as I stood up and socked Elijah in the jaw. Damn, that felt good, but it wasn't nearly enough. Before I could take another swing, though, Elijah pushed me backwards and with my already shaky balance, I fell backwards into the chair and knocked it and me over. And I had no strength to get up. None. I had to just lie there, in pain and completely vulnerable.

"Wow, struck a nerve, did I?" Elijah said, pulling me and the chair back to a sitting position as he laughed at my pathetic attempt to fight him.

"I swear to God, I'll kill you," I said through gritted teeth, half from anger and half from pain.

"It might be difficult to do that if you've…well, passed out again," he said in an ice-cold voice.

And there was that damn cloth again. With a fresh dose of chloroform. And I was out within seconds. Again.


	4. Suspicious Minds

**Aria**

Well, if my goal had been to confuse and torture myself even more, last night had worked like a charm. Seriously, what the hell had I been thinking? How could I have done that to Jake? I knew the answer: I hadn't been thinking. It was wrong and I knew it. That was why it had felt so wrong. That was why it had felt like it didn't mean anything to Ezra.

But the fact that it had happened at all was just…odd. Ezra, or at least the Ezra I thought I knew, would _never_ have done that while I was with someone else. No matter how much he wanted it, no matter how badly he wanted me back, he was more respectful than that. He would never have kissed me in the first place, let alone let us end up in bed like we had.

Lately, at least the past couple of days, it had been like _Invasion of the Body Snatchers_. This person looked like Ezra. Talked like Ezra. But the way he was acting? This wasn't the Ezra I knew. There was something not right about this, but I couldn't put my finger on what.

Regardless of what was happening with Ezra or why we had ended up sleeping together, though, clearly I had to talk to him. I couldn't just sweep our slip under the rug. It would be unbelievably awkward, but we needed to talk through it. If I was going to figure out what to do, who I was going to be with, I needed to do it on my own, without any more slips to cause me more confusion. So, as Spencer and I were passing by Ezra's classroom on our lunch break, I stopped her.

"Hey, Spence, wait there for a second," I told her. "I'll be right back."

I ran into the classroom and wrote him a note.

 _I think we need to talk. Dinner? Tonight?  
-Aria_

I put it in the drawer where he kept his pens, where I knew he would find it but no one else would.

"Okay, let's go," I said.

"Was I just the lookout?" Spencer asked.

"Did I tell you to whistle if you saw something?" I retorted. "No, you were not the lookout."

"How are things going in the, uh, romantic lit department?" she asked as we walked towards the courtyard to meet Hanna and Emily.

Honestly, I wanted to tell her. I wanted to tell someone. But I couldn't. Not right now. Not while I was still working through things. So I lied.

"All right, that department's been shut down," I said. "I was just returning a pen."

"Really?" she said, sounding like she didn't believe me for a second. God, I was a horrible liar, especially about stuff like this.

"Yes, really. He's very picky about his pens. I…I borrowed one last week, so I thought that I would return it."

"What's his brand?"

"Hello, third degree," I said, trying to deflect the attention away from my flimsy lie.

Spencer just raised her eyebrows at me. She wanted an answer. It only took me a second to remember that his favorite pen was actually one I had given him as a gift. So I told her about that.

"It's a Fisher ballpoint pen with a custom nib," I said. "Did I pass?"

"The correct answer was, 'I don't know. It's a stupid pen,'" she said. "You still love him."

Damn it. She was just playing on a whole different level. And she saw right through me.

"Whether I do or I don't, I'm just trying to figure things out with Jake," I told her. That much _was_ true.

"So let me help you. You like Jake. You _love_ Ezra," Spencer said.

I knew she was right. But the thing was, if I was the kind of person who cheated on her boyfriend so easily, maybe I shouldn't be with either one of them. Maybe I just needed to spend some time alone. That was what I deserved after what I'd done to Jake. I definitely needed to do some serious soul-searching before I made any decision. And I at least had a couple more days. Jake didn't get back until this weekend.

"I'm working on it," I told her, and walked away, out to the courtyard, where Emily was sitting with Alison's diary.

And of course, something came up that made me have to postpone my plans with Ezra. We'd found another clue in the diary, and of course the other three had insisted on us going to look into it tonight. I couldn't tell them I had plans with Ezra. I needed to keep this on the down-low until I figured things out.

So after school, I found myself back in Ezra's classroom. And this time, he was sitting there at his desk with his headphones in, looking like he was in the writing zone. I almost felt bad for interrupting. I knew how I got when I was in the middle of a train of thought while I was writing. And he was even worse. But before I could turn around and just send him a text, he looked up and saw me.

"Hey," he said, taking his headphones out.

"Hi," I said. "What are you working on so intently?"

"Oh, nothing," he said as he shut his laptop. "It's the end of a story. It's not ready for public consumption yet." He stood up and went to shut the door. "I got your note. Uh, about tonight—"

"I can't now," I cut him off. "Something came up."

"Is everything okay?"

"Hanna and Caleb, they broke up, so Emily just thought it would be a good idea for us to get out of town for the night and kind of get her mind off things," I lied. Not bad for flying by the seat of my pants. "And I couldn't tell them that I had plans."

"Oh, no," Ezra said immediately. "No, of course not. Um, you're all going?"

"Yeah," I said, confused. Hadn't I just said that?

"Anywhere special?"

"Emily's making a reservation somewhere," I said, a little uncomfortable.

Again with _Invasion of the Body Snatchers_. Ezra never questioned my plans with my friends at all, much less asked who was going to be with me and where we were going. He wasn't normally this…jealous? Possessive? He'd never been like that, even when we were together and he would have had more of a right to be that way. What the hell was going on with him?

"And I—I have a stack of papers to grade anyway," he said, pulling me out of my thoughts. "So…tomorrow?"

I just nodded, still extremely confused and more than a little unnerved by his…well, there was no other word for it. It was jealousy.

"About last night," he said.

Okay, apparently we were doing this now. Because right here in his classroom where anyone could walk in and hear us was _totally_ the right setting for this conversation…

"It didn't feel like there was anyone else," Ezra continued. "It felt right."

So it had all been in my head. And the thing was, part of my head told me that it was right too. I knew I loved him. And maybe if I was actually with him, this feeling of it being different would go away.

"I know," I lied, sighing. "This isn't fair for either of you."

"Or you," he said.

And there he was again. With just two words, the Ezra I knew and loved was back. I looked down and our hands were almost touching. I wanted to just reach out and put my hand on his, but right now, even that little bit of physical contact would be too much for me to handle. So instead, I just turned and walked out of the classroom, still a little unnerved and definitely confused.

That night was unnerving too, but in a completely different way. Again with the car trouble. The car broke down in the middle of nowhere, oddly enough, right next to Ezra's friend's cabin. We needed some shelter for at least a little bit, since it was raining. So I grabbed the spare key out of a flower pot on the front porch and discreetly entered the code for the security system that I'd seen Ezra enter when we were here last night. B26. Which told me that he did still have feelings for me. He loved me. He'd never stopped loving me.

For some reason, I lied to my friends. I told them that this cabin belonged to an uncle. Right before noticing the scarf I hadn't been able to find while putting my clothes back on last night right there in plain sight on the couch. I immediately grabbed it and stuffed it into my jacket, and then got almost obsessive running around and trying to hide any evidence that Ezra had been here. I definitely raised Spencer's suspicions, and probably raised Emily's and Hanna's too.

As Spencer and I went into the laundry room/linen closet, suddenly we got locked in. A was here with us. We tried and tried to get out, but we couldn't. The weirdest thing, though, was that I could have sworn I heard noises coming from under the floor again. Not a thumping this time. More like a scurrying around. Like someone was doing something down there.

I decided then that I had to figure out a way to get back here by myself and figure out what was going on down there, if anything. Find wherever this secret compartment under the floor was and look down there. Clearly it was something Ezra wanted to hide from me, but what, I had no idea. And I couldn't come out and ask him. I knew him well enough to know that if he didn't want me knowing about it, he'd just deflect. Maybe try to gaslight me and make me think I was imagining things. This new Ezra I'd seen the past couple of days would certainly do that.

Spencer and I were locked in the laundry room for at least twenty minutes before Emily and Hanna came and let us out. Clearly when A had been in the cabin, they'd been outside trying to get a cell signal to call for help. We ran out, and I set the security system again and put the spare key back where it belonged.

Later that night, I was over at Emily's house. I didn't really want to be alone. I knew I needed to do some soul-searching and spend some time thinking, but not tonight. Not after what happened with A. And then I got a call from Ezra. Why was he calling me tonight? I stepped out into the hallway to take the call, a little worried.

"Hey there," I said. "What's going on?"

"Nothing much," Ezra said. "I was just thinking about you and I wanted to call and say good night. Make sure you got back home safe tonight."

I melted. _This_ was the Ezra I'd fallen in love with. He would always call or at least text me to say good night when I wasn't spending the night with him. When we'd been together, I literally couldn't sleep until I heard from him. It was like…like our version of turning down the covers or something. It had actually taken a few weeks for me to stop expecting that call or text after we broke up.

"Aw, that's sweet. Yeah, I'm back safe and sound," I told him, not wanting to let on that Emily was going to have to mop a big puddle of Aria off the floor. I didn't want to give him too much hope yet. I still wasn't sure what I was going to do about this unbelievably complicated situation I suddenly found myself in.

"So, how's Hanna doing?" he asked. "Is she okay?"

"Um, yeah, yeah, she will be," I said, suddenly remembering that I'd told him we were trying to make Hanna feel better about breaking up with Caleb tonight.

"Well, it's good you got out of town."

"So how are you?" I asked. "Did you get all of your work done?"

"Yeah, things took a little longer than I expected, but I…got everything done that I needed to."

"That's good."

"See you tomorrow?" he asked.

"Yeah," I said, and suddenly I couldn't wait.

"I love you."

Well, that was…unexpected. I knew he still felt that way, obviously, but he'd never come out and said it. Not since I'd broken up with him. Maybe I'd given him a little too much hope. Or not. I suddenly knew that I'd already made my decision and I just hadn't realized it until right now. Ezra and I…well, we were a foregone conclusion. As long as he wanted me, there was no way I could ever be with anyone else. I needed to be with him, just like I needed oxygen to breathe.

"I love you too," I told him. "Bye."

Two days later, it was Saturday. And I was over at Ezra's apartment, about to tell him that I'd made my decision. That I was going to break up with Jake. But for some reason, I was still a little hesitant. I couldn't shake the feeling that I was just in love with the idea of us. The way we used to be. This experience with Malcolm had changed him. Made him a little harder, less trusting. Maybe that was what was so weird about him lately. Because something was definitely still weird about him.

"You look like you've seen a ghost," Ezra said as he handed me a cup of coffee.

"Yeah, Hanna had a rough night," I lied, taking the mug from him and taking a sip.

"Oh, I thought she was doing better." He sat down across from me.

"She's up and down," I said, which was actually the truth. "I was hoping we could spend the morning together."

"I wish I could, but I'm heading to Philly in a moment to meet a college buddy," he said.

"Hardy?" I asked.

"No, no," he said. "Um…Curtis. The lacrosse guy I told you about. We could do dinner. We could meet at the cabin."

He'd never told me about Curtis the lacrosse guy, but whatever. Maybe he thought he had. I did want to do dinner with him, especially after what I was getting ready to do this afternoon. But I didn't want to go back to the cabin. Not when he was going to be meeting me there. The next time I went to the cabin, I wanted it to be a secret. I didn't want him to know I was going.

"Uh, I just don't think that I should go that far," I told him. "In case Hanna needs me or something."

Just then my phone buzzed. It was a text from Jake.

 _Can't wait to see you this afternoon._

I immediately turned my phone over, but it was too late. Ezra had seen it. Damn.

"Jake's back from his tournament?" Ezra asked.

"Yeah, he got in from Harrisburg last night."

"Morning with me, afternoon with him."

And there was the green-eyed monster again. Unusual for Ezra, but this time I could understand it. He and I had clearly been getting closer, but I still hadn't resolved things with Jake. I could understand how that could lead to confusion, and even some jealousy, on his part.

"No, it's not like that," I explained.

"I'm sorry, it's none of my business," he backtracked immediately. "And I put you in this position. So you take your time and decide—"

"I've made up my mind. I'm gonna talk to him today," I cut him off. This _was_ why I'd come over here this morning. To tell him that I was breaking things off with Jake. That I'd chosen him.

"You are?" he asked, sounding surprised.

"Yes," I said, taking his hand. "You're the one. You always have been."

He smiled, but it looked...wrong. Like his heart wasn't in it. But maybe it was just leftover nerves from a moment ago. It was going to take him a second to process what I'd just said to him. Then he glanced at his clock.

"I'm so sorry, but I really do have to get going. I have a train to catch," he said, standing up.

"Yeah, of course," I told him. "Go have fun. So, dinner tonight? I'll meet you back here?"

"Can't wait," he said, giving me a kiss and then walking out the door.

Even this kiss, though. It was…off. Like his heart really wasn't in it. Whenever I kissed Ezra, I felt something. It always gave me butterflies in my stomach and made my heart beat a little faster. Like I was falling in love with him all over again every time. And I could always tell that he felt the same way. His kisses had always felt like another way of saying "I love you." But not now. Now, it felt like he was just kissing me because he felt like he was supposed to. But again, maybe it was just leftover nerves.

I finished my coffee and took a deep breath. I knew where I'd find Jake. He'd be at his studio. I had no doubt about that. And I needed to just get this over with. The waiting was killing me. So I washed out my mug and left, heading to Jake's studio. And, as it turned out, he pretty much knew what I was going to say to him before I said it. I told him that I still wanted to be friends, and he just said that he would need some time for that. He'd actually taken it surprisingly well.

When I got home, I found a box that he'd shipped to me from Harrisburg. There was a handwritten note attached to a jewelry box.

 _Thought this would look beautiful on you. See you soon.  
Jake_

I opened the box, and there was a necklace with my name on it. It was exactly my style. And very sweet and thoughtful of him. I knew I'd made the right decision breaking up with him, but still, this broke my heart. I couldn't keep it. I had to go give it back to him. I went back to the studio, and he was still there.

"Hey," I said awkwardly as I walked back in. "So, I got home and found this waiting for me. It was so thoughtful of you." I held the box out to him.

"Keep it," he said.

"I can't do that."

"What am I gonna do with it?" Jake said, clearly hurting. "I don't have another Aria in my life."

"Okay. Well…thank you," I said. This was more than awkward. This was almost painful.

"Mm-hm," he said, barely audible.

"All right," I said. "Well, I'll let you get back to your jump roping."

"You know, I do care about you," Jake said as I walked towards the door. "Which is why it's so hard for me to understand why you want to be with a guy like Ezra."

"What do you mean by that?" I asked, thoroughly confused.

"Nothing," he said, but he clearly had something on his mind.

"No, you were just about to tell me something," I insisted. "What? Jake?"

"I saw him totally go off on a woman outside the Grille today," he told me.

Wait, what? He'd told me he was going to be in Philadelphia all day with his friend Curtis.

"What woman?" I asked.

"Some blonde. He was screaming at her and pounding on her car."

"That couldn't have been Ezra," I said defensively. "He's been in Philly all day."

"You sure about that?" he asked. And suddenly, well, I wasn't so sure. "I always wondered if Ezra was the person you were afraid of."

"I'm not afraid of Ezra," I insisted.

"Well, maybe you should be."

"Look, the Ezra that I know, he doesn't have a mean bone in his body."

"You do know him best," Jake sighed. "Just do yourself a favor: keep your eyes open."

As I sat in Ezra's apartment waiting for him to get home, I suddenly started doubting everything. Whether Ezra had really been in Philadelphia today. Whether maybe I should be afraid of him. I _was_ kind of afraid of this new side of Ezra I'd been seeing over the past week. Had he been hiding his true colors from me until now? Was this new Ezra the real Ezra? And just as I was starting to think that maybe I had made the wrong decision, the door unlocked and he walked in, smiling when he saw me.

"I wish I could come home to this every night," Ezra said.

"So you have fun with Curtis?" I asked, my suspicion coming through more than I wanted it to. I was a terrible actress.

"Yeah, it was great catching up with him. You know, I'm starving. You want, like, a pizza or something?"

And he was deflecting. He definitely hadn't been in Philadelphia all day, if he'd even gone at all.

"Yeah, pizza sounds good," I said.

"Great," he said.

"Did you come in on the last train?" I asked.

I had to know what the hell he had been doing today. I needed some explanation for what Jake saw. Something that would tell me why Ezra would have scared the living daylights out of some random woman.

"Yeah, I just made it," Ezra said. "Uh, I'm gonna wash up." He turned around to go towards the bathroom.

Nope. He didn't get to deflect again, and he didn't get to lie to me anymore. I was going to get the truth out of him if I had to drag it out piece by piece.

"Jake saw you today," I told him.

Ezra paused, then he turned back around to face me.

"Saw me where?" he asked. I could tell he knew the jig was up.

"Outside the Grille," I said. "Said that you were talking to some woman. Actually, he used the word screaming. Did you even go to Philadelphia?"

"No," he said guiltily.

"Who's the woman, Ezra?"

I hated the way that came out. It sounded jealous, which I wasn't. I just wanted answers. The truth.

"Maggie's lawyer," he sighed.

Wait, what?

"Maggie's lawyer?" I asked. "Why were you meeting with her?"

"Maggie is trying to prevent me from seeing Malcolm," he told me.

"I didn't know that you wanted that."

"Just 'cause he's not my son, doesn't mean I don't care about him."

Okay, this made sense. And it sounded like the Ezra I knew. He cared about everyone. I was sure some part of him even still cared about Maggie, despite everything she'd done to him. But what I still didn't understand was why he felt like he needed to hide that from me.

"So that's what you were doing all day?" I clarified. "You were meeting with her lawyer?"

"Her lawyer. My lawyer. Whole thing is very complicated."

"But why would you keep that from me?"

"Because having them in my life destroyed us once. And we're just getting our footing back. I didn't want to take the chance that that would upset you," he told me.

Okay, I kind of understood that. Though why he had thought lying to me about it was a better option, I still didn't understand. Surely he knew that I would be more upset by that when I found out. And it didn't explain the violent outburst Jake had said he saw.

"Okay, that doesn't explain your violent outburst," I said. "I mean, Jake said that you really scared this woman."

"The conversation was heated. Voices were raised. There was nothing violent about it. So either Jake misinterpreted what he saw or he's trying to make me look bad so you'll rethink your decision," Ezra said.

It had to be that Jake had misinterpreted it. I knew Jake well enough to know that no matter how upset he was by our breakup, he would never lie to me just to try to get me to change my mind. But there was definitely a more pressing matter here. The matter of Ezra's dishonesty.

"Ezra, I really want this to work," I said, walking up to him. "But it's only going to if we're honest with each other."

"I made a mistake," he admitted. "I really am sorry."

He didn't sound sorry. Maybe sorry that he'd gotten caught. But he'd admitted that he made a mistake. And I didn't want to fight with him any more tonight. I'd just broken up with someone to be with him. We were officially back together now. That was what tonight was supposed to be about.

"Look, I chose you knowing all that comes with it," I told him. "It's a choice I'm really happy that I made."

Ezra smiled and hugged me, but again, it just felt…wrong. But then again, I had just spent the first five minutes of our rekindled relationship accusing him of lying to me. I shouldn't be expecting an ear-to-ear grin after that.

A couple of days later, I was walking past Ezra's classroom before school and heard him talking with Maggie. I hadn't realized she was still in town.

"So what exactly was the problem?" Ezra was asking.

"The landlord's being a jerk because I broke the lease," Maggie said. "He's withholding my deposit 'til I give back all the keys."

"Maybe I could pick Malcolm up early while you deal with the landlord."

"Malcolm's not here," she told him. "He's at home."

"As in Seattle?"

"Yes, as in Seattle. That's home."

What a bitch. Seriously? She knew how badly Ezra wanted to see Malcolm, and she'd come here without him? _She_ was punishing _him_ after she'd turned his life inside out and upside down by making him think he had a kid and then telling him that Malcolm wasn't really his?

"I thought you were bringing him back," Ezra said, clearly upset.

"I changed my mind," Maggie said defensively. "I'm just here to deal with the lease and ship back some boxes that I left in storage."

"So what're you saying, Maggie?" Ezra asked. "That I'm not gonna have a connection to Malcolm unless it's through an attorney?"

I decided he needed an escape from this, and I wasn't about to let Maggie treat him like a doormat any more than she already had. I walked in.

"Oh," I said, trying to act like I'd just walked in and hadn't known she was here. "Um…I'll just come back later."

"No, we're done," Maggie said. "I was just leaving."

Maggie turned and walked past me, giving me a pointed look. Like she was upset with me too. What the hell had I ever done to her?

"I'm sorry. I didn't know that she was here," I lied to Ezra.

"No, that's okay," he said. "That was not going to a good place."

That was putting it mildly.

"How can she talk to you like that after everything that she's—"

"Flying off the handle isn't going to help anything, Aria," he cut me off angrily. "People get what they deserve. Eventually."

I didn't know why, but that comment unnerved me. I knew he wasn't angry with me. His anger was directed exactly where it belonged, at Maggie. But still. "People get what they deserve. Eventually"? What the hell was that supposed to mean? Did he have something planned? Something up his sleeve? This wasn't like him at all.

That afternoon after school, I happened to see Maggie outside the post office. And I couldn't stop myself. I had to say something to her.

"Hey there," I said, walking up to her.

"Oh, hi," she said awkwardly. "Um, it's okay if I park here, right?"

"Well, it depends. How long do you plan on staying?"

"Just as long as it takes me to mail this," she said, sounding confused.

"Then that's it? Then you're out of here for good?" I challenged.

"I think so," she said. "Why?"

She _thought so_? What, she was just going to come and go as she pleased, making Ezra's life a living hell for as long as she saw fit? Oh, no. No, that was not about to happen. Not on my watch.

"You know how badly Ezra wanted to see Malcolm," I told her. "So coming up here without him was a really nasty thing to do."

"Aria, it's none of your business," Maggie said.

She sounded…scared? Was that right? Maybe she was just being defensive again, but it seemed like more than that. She seemed genuinely frightened of something. But I was too mad at her to really feel sorry for her, no matter what it was that she was scared of.

"Oh, really?" I shot back angrily. "Well, it sure was when you asked me not to tell Ezra that Malcolm was his kid."

"If you'll excuse me—" she said. Yep, she was scared of something.

"No," I interrupted, stepping in her way so she couldn't leave. "No, there is no excuse for someone to lie about something like that and screw up someone's life. And if you count Malcolm, that's two people."

"I didn't realize that you and Mr. Fitz were still so close," she said, her voice shaking. "He's lucky to have a student who's so protective of him."

"Well, _Mr. Fitz_ is too much of a gentleman to kick you to the curb," I told her. "But someone needs to."

"I'm guessing that you've done some lying yourself when it comes to Mr. Fitz."

"Yeah, but it's not the kind that includes blackmailing his family into paying for a three-bedroom house and a fancy summer camp," I challenged.

"Well, that's rich, coming from a kid who maintains her grade point average by sleeping with her teacher," Maggie said, now sounding like she was on the verge of tears.

Oh, no, she had _not_ just gone there. My relationship with Ezra had never been about my grades. He might have given me a little guidance on an assignment or two, but we hadn't even started sleeping together until after he'd left Rosewood High before. And he _never_ brought my grades or assignments up to me when we were together outside of school. Ever. I wasn't about to let her get away with accusing me of sleeping with Ezra for a grade.

I grabbed Maggie's arm as she started walking away from me, and when I did that, the box she was carrying fell to the ground. I looked down and it was a bunch of Malcolm's toys and belongings and some pictures of him. God, I was a horrible person. I couldn't believe I'd done that.

"Oh, my God. I'm sorry," I said, bending down to help her pick it up.

"Just leave it," she said, and pushed me out of the way as she bent down to salvage the mess I'd made.

I walked away, and something just kept eating at me. She didn't seem upset with Ezra. Not really. She really had seemed scared of him. And I couldn't help remembering what Jake had said to me. To keep my eyes open. Well, this was me keeping my eyes open, and it was a red flag for sure. It didn't sit right with me at all. Maggie might have been a manipulative bitch, but I hadn't thought she was cruel. No, something else was making her keep Malcolm away. But what?

That Friday, I got a text from Ezra before school.

 _Need to talk. My classroom? Before first period?_

This wasn't entirely unprecedented. He'd asked me to come in before school so we could talk before. And I had been avoiding him for a couple of days trying to work out what to make of this situation. Between Jake being wary of Ezra and now Maggie clearly being scared of something, I was really starting to wonder if Jake hadn't been onto something. But I couldn't avoid Ezra forever, and I would only really get answers from spending time with him.

"Hey," I said, walking in ten minutes before the bell. "What's up?"

"Hey," he said, smiling. "I know senior year is stressful and everyone's piling on the work, but I've missed you this week."

Well, at least he thought that was all it was. And he wasn't entirely wrong. Everyone, him included, had been piling the homework on lately.

"Yeah, sorry," I said. "I've barely gotten six hours of sleep a night this whole week."

That was true, but it wasn't entirely because of schoolwork. It definitely was a contributing factor, but it was also because I was still trying to unravel the A mystery with my friends, plus trying to unravel the mystery that was this new Ezra I'd been seeing come to the surface over the past couple of weeks.

"A little advice from someone who's been there?" he said, shutting the door to the classroom. "Don't spread yourself so thin, and make sure you're taking care of yourself. Make sure you're getting enough sleep and actually eating breakfast every morning. Running yourself into the ground isn't going to do you any favors, Aria."

He squeezed my shoulder and pulled me in for a one-armed hug, and I smiled. This was the Ezra I knew and loved. Concerned for my well-being and trying to help without actually stepping outside his role as my teacher. But seriously, I didn't need to be taking a test on Stevenson's _Jekyll and Hyde_ today. I had my very own Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde right here, and his name was Ezra Fitz. One second, he was the sweet and caring man I'd fallen in love with and the next, he was all weird and distant and angry.

"Thanks," I chuckled. "So, what did you want to talk to me about?"

"Oh, right," he said, starting to put graded assignments on desks. "Um, there was a break-in at the cabin last week."

Wait, last week. That was when my friends and I had taken shelter there for about an hour. What in the hell? Now I was back to being suspicious. Did he somehow know I'd been there?

"A break-in?" I asked, trying to sound shocked. "Like with robbers or something?"

"No, no, nothing was stolen," he told me. "But I got a chance to chat with the sheriff's office last week. They said it was most likely a vagrant looking for shelter or kids looking for a place to party. I mean, it's an empty cabin. What do you expect? So, I have to go up there this weekend. Can you get away? Come with me? I mean, it's been a while since we've been up there."

Honestly, with the way Ezra was acting lately, being completely alone with him and having no cell phone service for miles made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. But I couldn't tell him that. So I told a half-truth.

"My dad's going up to Syracuse and I can't leave Mike," I said.

My dad _was_ going up to Syracuse, but Mike would be just fine if I left him alone. I could have, if I'd wanted, just said the girls and I were going up to Spencer's lake house or something. But I really didn't want to.

"Is there any way your brother could stay with a friend?" Ezra pressed.

Now that I thought about it, maybe alone time was exactly what Ezra and I needed. Maybe if I spent some time alone with him, it would help me figure out whether I'd made a colossal mistake. And this would also give me an opportunity to try to figure out what that noise I'd kept hearing under the floor at the cabin was. I knew I hadn't been imagining it. At least not the second time.

"Maybe we could drive back and check on him?" I suggested. "Just tell him and my dad I'm staying at Hanna's or something."

"Aria, I really need to save the whole weekend," he insisted. Well, if he was dealing with the sheriff's office, I could understand that. "And I thought we were going to actually be able to use this cabin. I'd like to spend some time alone with you."

I sighed. I needed to do this. For my own sanity and edification. I'd just tell my dad and Mike that I was staying at Spencer's lake house for the weekend to get some studying done. And I'd tell my friends that I was going to Syracuse with my dad.

"Okay, you know what, I'll figure something out with Mike," I told Ezra. "When do you want to leave?"

"As soon as you can get a bag packed after school," he said.

And then the bell rang. I tried to shake off the feeling that I really shouldn't be going up to the cabin alone with Ezra. This was _Ezra_. I loved him. He loved me. He wasn't going to hurt me. I had no reason to be scared of him.

On the way to the cabin that afternoon, Ezra had his iPod plugged into the auxiliary port in his car and it was on shuffle. "Happiness" came on. Normally when that song played, he'd say something about it, or at least reach over and hold my hand or something. Do something to acknowledge that it was our song. But not this time. This time, he just kept driving like it didn't affect him at all. I tried to brush it off as him just being worried about what had happened at the cabin and having to deal with the sheriff's office.

More and more, I was getting a very strange feeling. Almost like this wasn't really Ezra at all. Like it was…his twin or something. Someone who looked and sounded like him, and maybe knew just enough about me and our relationship to be able to fake it for a little while, but who didn't know the little nuances of it. He clearly knew the code to the cabin was B26, but it was like he had no idea what it meant. But Ezra would have told me if he'd had another brother besides Wesley. Especially a twin brother. He would have had no reason to keep that from me, especially after everything else he'd told me about his dysfunctional family.

No, I was going crazy. I had to be. Ezra was just stressed. That was all. Who wouldn't be if they had to deal with everything he'd been dealing with lately?

But then, that night when we were in bed, I heard the thumping noise again. I even heard it after our bedroom activities were over (which again had felt somehow different, almost meaningless to him). It stopped after a little while, but I knew I'd heard it. I hadn't been imagining anything this time. That was it. I had to find out what it was. I waited until I was sure Ezra was asleep, then bunched up a blanket and some pillows to make it seem like I was still in bed.

Okay, where to start? The noise had seemed loudest in here. So clearly the entrance to whatever underground compartment was here was somewhere in this room. There was a rug right by the bed, seemingly oddly placed. On a hunch, I pushed it back quietly, and there was a handle. I pulled it up, and it opened a little loudly. I looked over, worried that I'd woken Ezra, but he was still snoring. It hadn't woken him. There was a staircase, and I followed it down, scared of what I might find. All kinds of possibilities went through my head, but absolutely nothing could have prepared me for what I saw when I got to the bottom of the stairs.

"Ezra?" I whispered.


	5. Danger and Deception

_(Ask for an update and ye shall receive. I kind of got in the zone with this chapter and it just came pouring out. Hope you enjoy. **WARNING!** Since Aria has now figured out that the guy who has been in her life for the past couple of weeks is not in fact Ezra, obviously she figures out pretty quickly that Elijah raped her. If you're triggered by rape, specifically a woman's reaction to realizing she's been raped, well, it might not be the best idea to read the first part of this chapter.)_

 **Aria**

From the second Ezra looked up at me, I could tell this was really him. The way he looked at me told me everything I needed to know. I didn't know who the hell that was upstairs, but it wasn't him. I knew this was the real Ezra. Wait, had I really just said that to myself? The real Ezra? God, this was insane.

He was sitting on the floor in a corner, wearing nothing but a dirty undershirt and boxers. He looked like he'd barely eaten and hadn't bathed for at least a couple of weeks. How long had he been down here? I ran up and knelt down in front of him.

"Aria," he said weakly. "Oh, God."

I hugged him, trying to be as gentle as I could. He looked like he would snap in half if a breeze blew the wrong way. He immediately returned the hug, squeezing me tighter than I'd thought he was able to in this state.

"I'm so sorry, Aria," he whispered, kissing the side of my head. "I tried. I tried to stop him. I tried to protect you. But I wasn't strong enough."

"Shh, Ezra," I said, starting to cry. "Save your strength. I have to get you out of here. Can you stand up?"

"No, you can't," Ezra said firmly. "You can't get me out of here. You can't let on that you know I'm down here. If he has even an inkling that you know he's not me, his use for you will be over. He'll hurt or maybe even kill you to torture me. I can't let that happen."

"What are you talking about, Ezra?" I asked him. "Who is it up there? Why did he do this to you?"

"Look, I want to tell you, but before I do, you need to go close the hatch. He can't wake up and see it's open. Okay?"

I stood up, scared that I'd come back to find him dead. He looked that weak. I went up and found a handle on the underside of the hatch and pulled it shut.

"How am I going to know if he wakes up?" I asked as I came back down.

"Turn the computer screen towards me," he instructed. I did. "He's been giving me a front-row seat to everything. There's a camera aimed right at the bed. We can keep an eye on him."

The bed. God, he'd seen and heard everything a little while ago. And, I realized, probably a couple of weeks ago too. It had been him I'd heard down here. He'd been trying to break out to stop whoever the hell it was up there from…

Oh, my God. I'd slept with the man up there thinking he was Ezra. And he'd let me think that. He clearly wanted Ezra to hear it. I'd played right into this sick freak's game, helping him torture the man I loved. Oh, Jesus Christ. What in the hell had he done to me? What had I _let_ him do?

"Oh, my God," I sobbed. "Oh, my God. I...oh, my God."

"Aria, come here," Ezra said softly.

I went and sat next to him and he pulled me onto his lap, holding me tight against him. Well, as tight as he could in his current state. He kissed my hair and my forehead and just let me cry for a few minutes before speaking.

"It isn't your fault," he finally whispered.

That just made me cry even more. If I'd been just a little bit smarter, I would have figured this out a lot sooner. I would have never done this. I would have never hurt Ezra like this. I'd known something was very wrong, but I'd just tried to explain it all away instead of trusting my instincts. My feelings for Ezra had clouded my judgement. Whoever the hell it was upstairs had raped me to torture the man I loved and I'd just let it happen. It _was_ my fault.

"Yes, it is," I said quietly.

"No," he insisted. "It's not. He spent years trying to figure out how to hurt me. He figured out that doing this to you was the best way to torture me, and he learned how to get you to think he was me. He spent a long time figuring out how to manipulate you into doing exactly what he wanted. This is Elijah's fault and no one else's. Please don't blame yourself."

Well, now I had a name. Elijah. But I still had no idea who he was.

"Who is he?" I asked. "Who's Elijah?"

"My twin brother," he told me. "A sadistic sociopath, if you hadn't already figured that out. Telling you about the horrors Wesley and I went through as children would take way longer than we have right now. I'd say I'm sorry I didn't tell you about him, but after this, I'm not really. I'm sure you had your suspicions that something was wrong, but I also know that you give me way too much credit and because of that, you probably just tried to explain away and justify everything that was sending up red flags. And I'm glad, because as long as you thought Elijah was me, he could just hurt me by showing me how easily he could get you to trust him and do exactly what he wanted. He didn't actually have to hurt…well, no, I take that back. He did hurt you. God, I don't know how you can even look at me right now. I look exactly like him. I'm so sorry, Aria."

Ezra squeezed me tight again and kissed my temple. I didn't understand how he didn't know how I could look at him. Really, it was the simplest thing in the world. I could still look at Ezra, despite the fact that he looked exactly like the man who had hurt both of us, because he was the man I loved. And I knew he loved me too. It would take me a long time to reconcile what had happened to me, but I knew he wasn't going anywhere and would give me as much time as I needed to work through this when it was all over.

"It was Halloween, wasn't it?" I asked him. "That was the first time I noticed anything different. It was subtle, but he was acting strange on the way back from Ravenswood."

"I was stuck in the trunk," he told me. "He caught me about ten minutes after I called you and told you to be careful. I'd found his apartment and I saw that he'd done a disturbing amount of research on you and Spencer and Hanna and Emily. And Alison. And I'd just managed to cut the rope he'd used to tie up my wrists and ankles when he picked you and your friends up. I knew I couldn't try to get out while you were in the car and tip you off that I was back there."

Wait…Alison. She'd seemed petrified when she saw Elijah in the shadows that night. Had she known? How? I didn't think Ezra knew her. Except that it seemed like they did know each other.

"Ezra, I have to ask you something," I said.

"Yes, I know Alison," he said before I could even ask. "I met her when I was in college. She lied to me about her age. No, nothing ever happened between us. But I did run into her in Ravenswood that night. She told me that she'd thought she'd seen me around there, and I realized that she'd actually seen Elijah. I told her about him because I didn't want him to try to hurt her to get to you so he could get to me. Being out there alone, she might as well have had a target painted on her back. But then she refused to leave me alone, and I asked her to help me by keeping an eye on you and your friends. She did for a little while, but she ended up seeing me get taken. So she knew everything."

"Thank you, Professor Xavier," I teased. I couldn't believe I'd just said that. I wasn't sure how I was even capable of making a joke right now.

Ezra chuckled weakly.

"Okay, then did you know who I was when we met?" I asked, suddenly realizing that if he'd known Alison before he met me, she might have told him about me.

"Yes," he admitted. "She showed me a picture of all five of you together once and told me all about the four of you. She actually told me how much I would like you in particular if I met you. When I saw you in the bar that day, I thought you looked familiar. And then I saw you looking at the missing poster for Alison, and I knew exactly who you were. I wanted to tell you so many times, but you were already so sad and I didn't want to add to it or remind you of her. I'm so sorry I lied to you about that, but I swear to you, I have never once lied about how I feel about you. I love you, Aria. The first time Elijah brought you here, I heard you say you were struggling to remember what's real. Well, that's as real as it gets."

I took a minute to process that. It was kind of a lot to take in. But it did make sense that he wouldn't have wanted to add to my sadness, especially given everything else that had also been going on in my life when we'd first met. It would have been kind of odd to bring it up after time had passed, too. And the thing was, when it came down to it, I loved him. I loved him so much it hurt. That was real too. And that was why I needed to help him right now, no matter what it took.

"I love you too," I told him, and kissed him softly. Feeling his chapped lips against mine broke my heart into a million tiny pieces. "Ezra, tell me how I can help you. If you won't let me get you out of here, tell me what I _can_ do."

He sighed. "You're not going to like it."

I immediately knew what he was going to say. I had to keep playing along with Elijah. Because he would want me safe more than anything else, even more than he wanted to stay alive. And playing along with this charade was the only way to guarantee that.

"I have to keep up the charade, don't I?" I said, resigned.

It would kill me inside, because I would have to act like I loved the sociopath upstairs, the person who had raped me to torture the man I loved. But if this was really what Ezra wanted, I would do it. I would do it for him.

"Yes, you do," he said. "I'll figure something out to get out of here and the first thing I'll do is come for you. I promise. But until I do, I need you safe. And unfortunately, this is the only way to guarantee that, if there even is a way at all. With Elijah, there are no guarantees."

I sighed. If this worked, I would seriously consider a career in acting. Because this would be an Oscar-worthy performance if I could pull it off. And that was a big if.

"Okay, I'll do it," I told him. "If that's what you want, I'll do it."

"Thank you," he said, pressing his chapped lips against my forehead. "I'm sorry. I know it's a lot to ask."

"That's putting it mildly," I told him. "You realize I have to act like I'm in love with the person who's torturing you? The person who…who raped me?"

God, that was hard to say out loud. Saying it out loud meant admitting to myself that it had happened. That I'd let this psycho deceive me and get me into his bed under false pretenses. But the fact of the matter was, it had happened, and as soon as this was over, I would have to deal with it. Really deal with it and process it.

Ezra looked heartbroken. He brushed the hair off of my cheek and kissed my forehead again, then pulled me back into his arms.

"I know," he said. "I wish more than anything that there was another way. But there's not. I know this is going to be the hardest thing you'll ever do in your life, but right now you don't have another choice. I swear to God, Aria, when I get out of here, I will spend the rest of my life making this up to you."

Suddenly, a thought occurred to me. If Ezra and I had never met, maybe none of this would be happening now. I pushed it away as soon as it came up. No matter what had happened, no matter what was happening now, he was the best thing that had ever happened to me. I couldn't imagine my life without him. But now I wondered if the same thought had crossed Ezra's mind at some point during these past couple of weeks.

"Do you wish you hadn't met me?" I asked. "So this wouldn't have happened?"

"No, Aria," he said immediately, and kissed me. "Meeting you is the best thing that's ever happened to me. No matter what happens, that won't change. Do you wish you hadn't met me?"

"No, I don't. I honestly can't imagine my life without you. I'll figure out some way to help you, Ezra. I promise I'll do whatever it takes keep myself safe, but I can't just leave you down here."

"As long as it doesn't involve breaking the charade with Elijah, I'm not going to stop you," Ezra said. "Now, I really, really hate to say this, but—"

"I've been down here too long already," I finished for him.

"Yes, you have. I'm not sure how he hasn't woken up yet. Make sure you turn the screen back around before you go up there. And put the rug back over the hatch when you get up there. He can't know you were down here."

"I will," I told him, trying to keep back tears.

I didn't want to leave him. I didn't want to have to go upstairs and act like nothing was wrong. I didn't think I could do it. And I was terrified that this might be the last time I saw him.

"You can do this, Aria," Ezra assured me, like he was reading my mind again. "I know it doesn't seem like it, but you can. I love you."

I gave Ezra one last kiss. "I love you, too."

I turned around and walked away, leaving the love of my life starving to death in a hidden underground cellar. God, this was insane. I remembered to turn the computer screen back where it was, and ever so quietly, I went back upstairs. Elijah was still snoring away. How in the hell he hadn't woken up was beyond me, but I wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth. I covered the hatch back up with the rug, and it looked like I'd never been down there.

It was already light outside when I looked out the window. I just put on a pot of coffee and sat on the couch in the living room. I couldn't go back to bed. I needed to think. Figure out some way to get Ezra out of that cellar before he starved to death. I couldn't do it while Elijah was here. That much was clear. But maybe…maybe I could come back on Monday night? No, that was too risky. There was no way I could get back here without raising Elijah's suspicions. He'd already been suspicious enough when I'd been here with my friends last week.

I considered calling the police, but without Elijah being here, there was absolutely no way to prove that it had been him doing this. And since I'd promised Ezra I would keep this charade up, I couldn't call the police while he was here. Damn it. There was no one to call.

Wait. Yes, there was. I still had Wesley's phone number, from when he'd stayed at Ezra's apartment while Ezra was in Delaware meeting Malcolm. Wesley loved his brother. I was sure he hated Elijah every bit as much as Ezra and I did. And that meant Wesley would help Ezra, and then help us take Elijah down. Somehow.

But how to call him? I had no cell service, and there was no service for miles. I couldn't just leave. That would tip Elijah off. Except that I needed to. I needed to get him to take me home without raising any red flags for him. God, I didn't know how I would pull that off. It was going to be hard enough to remember to call this creep Ezra instead of Elijah.

About half an hour later, Elijah walked out into the living room yawning.

"Coffee smells great," he said. "How long have you been up?"

"I didn't really sleep so well," I said. Well, if not well meant not at all.

"You want a cup?" he asked as he poured himself a mug of coffee.

"No," I said, trying not to let my fear come through. "Ezra, I think that you need to take me home."

"Are you still nervous about being up here?" he asked me.

"No, I'm not nervous. I'm tired," I lied. Better than saying I was completely petrified.

"Well, you didn't sleep well last night."

"No, I'm tired of lying to my family and my friends," I lied. "I don't know how many different tales I had to spin just to come up here to be with you this weekend. Look, I know that you have to stay up here, but is there a bus station or a train nearby that—"

"Aria, have you ever thought that this feeling you have of being torn between me and your friends is maybe not such a bad thing?" he cut me off.

I had to stop myself from laughing. Ezra, the real Ezra, would _never_ have said that. He'd hated when I had to lie to my friends about him before. Almost as much as I had.

"Is it supposed to be a good thing?" I shot back. Damn, I deserved an Oscar for this performance.

"Maybe," he said. "I know it feels like you're growing away from them, but maybe this feeling is you and me growing closer."

This was really freaking me out. It seemed like…like Elijah was desperate. And given what little I'd gathered from Ezra last night, a desperate Elijah equaled an unpredictable and even more dangerous Elijah. Which was not a good thing.

"Right, but I want to be able to share that with my closest friends," I said, at this point struggling to put one word after the other.

"And I agree with you. And I think we are past the point in our relationship where we have to hide. But if what we have is going to last, you have to start thinking me as the person you're closest to, the person you want to share everything with. And I have to do that with you."

Yes, he was definitely desperate. He was rambling now. Jesus. I couldn't leave. If he was this desperate, God knew what he would do to Ezra, or to me, if I insisted on leaving. No, I had to stay here. But I'd be damned if he was going to get into my pants again. He would _never_ hurt me like that again. I almost felt like leaving the hatch cracked open so Ezra could get out if he tried to force me.

"Maybe this was a bad idea," Elijah said after a second. "Starting again and bringing you up here. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to put any pressure on you, Aria."

Lying bastard. That was exactly what he'd meant to do.

"No, you didn't," I said. And that was true. I'd come up here of my own free will.

"Okay. Why don't you think about it while I take a shower? And if you still want to go, I can drive you."

Well, he'd actually offered to drive me home. Maybe I could get out of here. But then I thought about it. If I left, how did I know what he would do to Ezra? And what he would think about me? Would his use for me as a puppet be over? Would he move on to actually hurting me to torture Ezra? No, I needed to stay. It would kill me, but I had to stay to protect myself and the man I loved.

"Wait," I said as he was halfway back to the bedroom. "No, I want this. Yeah, I really want this to work."

Elijah walked back and hugged me, and I felt like I wanted to crawl out of my own skin. But I had to keep this up. Make it convincing.

"Look, why don't you go take a shower and I'll make us some breakfast, okay?" I said, kissing him as quickly as I could.

"Sounds good," he said, kissing me again, a little longer, and then heading to the bedroom.

I had to stop myself from throwing up in my mouth. God, could I really do this for an entire weekend? I didn't know. And even if I could somehow suck it up and make myself tolerate kissing him for a whole weekend, how was I going to keep him from going any farther?

As soon as I could safely escape, I used the excuse of wanting to take some pictures to get the hell out of the cabin for a while. The sheriff's office was here anyway to go over some things. So I slipped out, taking my cell phone with me. I did take some pictures, just in case he wanted to look and make sure I wasn't lying to him. Besides, photography calmed me down. Maybe it would calm me down just enough to help me get through today. Maybe.

In the two hours I was outside, I couldn't get a damn bar. Not even enough to send Wesley a text message. And I didn't know what kind of excuse I could possibly use to take the car and drive out to the land of cell phone service. Besides, I had to get back before Elijah got too suspicious.

"Oh, you're back," Elijah said from the kitchen when I walked back in. Whatever he was cooking actually smelled really good. "I didn't think you'd be gone so long."

"Yeah, I just took a walk around the cabin, took a couple of pictures," I told him. It wasn't exactly lying. "Mm, what smells so good?"

"A vegetable tagine, minus the actual tagine. And there's no lamb in it. I'm actually using chickpeas."

How in the hell had he managed to learn that I was a vegetarian? This was just too creepy.

"Oh, a night in Tunisia. So exotic," I said, somehow managing to keep my fear out of my voice.

Elijah opened the cupboard. "Oh, damn it. I forgot the chickpeas."

What was he playing at? I could clearly see a can of chickpeas right in front of him. I wasn't blind. But he was basically handing me an excuse to drive out to the land of cell phone service on a silver platter. I'd take it.

"Oh, I can run down to Seymour's," I said, almost too eagerly.

"Are you okay? It's like an hour there and back," he said.

Yes, I was fantastic. I could call Wesley, and maybe I could get a couple of things to slip to Ezra that might help him survive down there for a couple of days. But I couldn't let that on to Elijah. So photography would have to be my excuse again.

"Yeah, yeah. I actually wanted to take some pictures of that covered bridge on the way," I lied. "Keys?"

"By the door," he said, sounding a little surprised.

"Bye, babe," I said, kissing him as quickly as I could and practically sprinting out the door.

I remembered at the last second to grab my purse (which thank God was big enough to hide a few things for Ezra too) and my camera. I made sure my phone was in my purse, and I was on my way. As soon as I had a signal, I called Wesley. My hand was shaking as I pulled up the number on my cell phone and hit dial.

"Aria?" he answered on the first ring.

"Wes, thank God," I breathed, tears coming to my eyes. "I need your help. Ezra's in trouble."

"What kind of trouble? Aria, what's going on?"

"Elijah has him," I said, trying to remember to breathe.

"Did you just say what I think you said?" Wesley asked slowly.

"Yes, I did. Elijah took Ezra on Halloween and has been holding him hostage in a cabin about an hour outside of Rosewood ever since."

"And no one has noticed?"

"No. Because he took over Ezra's life in Rosewood."

"Aria, hang on a second," he said, and it sounded like he was talking to whoever he was with. "Guys, I'm sorry, but I have to go. It's my brother's girlfriend. My brother had an accident and he's in the hospital."

He was a better liar than I was. I heard a door opening and closing, and then what sounded like a car door opening and a car turning on.

"Okay, I'm back," he said. "I'm on my way there. I think I know which cabin. Out in the middle of nowhere? No cell phone service for miles?"

"That's the one," I said.

"I'm not even sure I want to know this, but if he took over Ezra's life in Rosewood, I'm assuming he…took over his relationship with you too? Tried to get you back? Ezra told me you guys broke up."

"Yeah, and it worked," I sniffled. "He brought me to the cabin a couple of times and…look, I don't want to talk about it. But I found Ezra in a cellar under the floor in the bedroom last night."

"Aria, I'm so sorry," Wesley said, sounding about as heartbroken as Ezra had been last night.

He didn't miss a thing. He knew what Elijah had done to me without me even having to say it. I could tell. It was a little embarrassing, but I knew I could trust Wesley to keep it to himself.

"Look," I said. "Ezra told me he wanted me to keep up the charade. Let Elijah think that I still believe he's Ezra. So you can't get Ezra until we leave the cabin. We're supposed to go back to Rosewood tomorrow night."

"God, that sucks," he said. "But he's right. That's what's going to keep you from getting hurt any more than he's already hurt you. He's only doing this to you to get to Ezra. If he thinks that's not working anymore, he'll hurt you some other way and make Ezra watch."

"Oh, he's already made him watch," I said before I could stop myself. "He has surveillance cameras on every inch of the cabin and Ezra's apartment and classroom. He's made Ezra watch everything he's doing to me."

"Jesus Christ. How long has he been planning this?" Wesley muttered, almost to himself. "What's Ezra's condition like?"

"He's had him down there with barely any food or water for two weeks," I told him. "So not good. I swear, he looks like he'll snap in half if a breeze blows the wrong way. I'm on my way to the store, so I'm going to try to get him some things to last him a couple of days. But he's going to need to go to the hospital as soon as you get him."

"You do realize he's not going to let me take him to the hospital until he makes sure you're safe, right?"

I chuckled through my tears. "I know."

"Okay, look, I'm going to be as close as I can be to the cabin and still have cell phone service. As soon as you have a chance after you and Elijah leave tomorrow, I want you to call or text me. I'll go get Ezra and we'll come back to Rosewood. Then the three of us will figure out how to deal with Elijah. Got it?"

"Yes, I understand," I told him. "You'll need the security code for the cabin. It's B26."

"So Ezra actually bought that cabin after all. Wow."

Wait…what? What the hell was he talking about? It wasn't just a friend's cabin? It was actually Ezra's?

"What are you talking about, Wes?" I asked.

"I know B26 is the jukebox number for your song," he said. "I was confused when I read that poem Ezra got published last year and he told me about how you met. So he clearly set the security system code. The family friend who owned that cabin? Well, he offered it to Ezra for dirt cheap a few months ago, but Ezra never did tell me if he took him up on the offer. I just knew he was seriously considering it. As a place for the two of you to get away to every once in a while."

A few months ago? But that was…right before I broke up with him. Holy crap. He'd actually made the place he and I had fantasized about a reality. He'd done that for me. He'd bought me a freaking house. Well, us. But still. And then I'd broken up with him before he had a chance to tell me. And of course he was too selfless to say anything after that. He'd just kept it to himself.

"Oh, my God," I said. "Has anyone ever told your brother that he goes way overboard with the gift-giving thing?"

Wesley laughed. "I've tried to, but he doesn't listen. You know, he really loves you. I've never seen him like this before. With anyone."

"I know," I told him. "I love him too. More than anything."

"Good. So don't hurt him again. Do you hear me? I know where you live."

I chuckled as I pulled up to Seymour's. "I won't. I promise. Look, I'm at the store now, and I'm kind of on a ticking clock. If I'm gone too long, Elijah will get suspicious."

"I understand. Listen, Aria, call me if you need anything. Okay? I know there's a land line there. Write my cell number down and keep it with you. I'll be there in about four hours."

"Thank you, Wes," I said. "Really. From the bottom of my heart."

"You don't need to thank me. This is my brother we're talking about."

"Thank you anyway. You're helping me too."

"Okay, let me rephrase. My brother and my future sister-in-law," he teased.

I laughed out of shock. "Okay, how about you let me graduate high school and go to college first before you start planning my wedding for me?"

"Deal," he chuckled. "But you do realize the groom is a foregone conclusion, right?"

"Yeah, you're probably right," I chuckled. How had this conversation gone from us talking about rescuing his brother from an underground cellar to us talking about my hypothetical wedding?

"Okay, go get through this weekend. I'll see you soon, Aria."

"Thanks again, Wes," I said. "See you soon."

And then I hung up, still chuckling at how that conversation had ended. But that was probably Wesley's plan. To make me laugh and calm me down. And it had worked like a charm.

I went as fast as I could through Seymour's, grabbing the chickpeas Elijah had claimed to need first so I wouldn't forget. Then I got some basic supplies for Ezra. Crackers and peanut butter. Not the most appetizing thing, but peanut butter had protein, which he needed right now, and it would last him for a few days. Then I got a liter of water and a big bottle of Gatorade. Hydration and electrolytes. And some Carmex and medicated lotion. His lips had been so chapped they were actually starting to bleed, and his hands and feet had been so dry they were cracking. Maybe it was pointless, but I at least wanted to ease what pain I could. I made sure it would all fit in my purse, and it did. It made it a little bulkier than normal, but if I put the purse on the couch and then took it right into the bedroom, Elijah probably wouldn't notice. Then I went back to the cabin, taking a couple of quick pictures of the bridge just in case he looked at the camera.

"Hey," I said when I walked back in. "Sorry I took so long. I kind of got lost in my photography."

"It's fine," Elijah said. "I'm glad you got a chance to take some pictures today. Hopefully you didn't get so lost in the camera that you forgot the chickpeas, though?"

I forced a chuckle and handed him the bag with the chickpeas. "Nope. Here you go."

"Thank you for going," he said, pulling me in close and kissing me.

"Yeah, it's no problem," I said. "Look, I'm going to go take a shower before dinner, okay?"

"Okay."

I grabbed my purse and had to remind myself not to sprint to the bedroom. As soon as I shut the door, I went and turned on the shower, then went back and pulled out the supplies for Ezra and grabbed a large scarf out of my suitcase. Then I pulled a piece of paper and a pen out of my purse and scribbled a quick note to put in with the supplies.

 _Wes is coming for you when Elijah and I leave. Stay strong. I love you.  
Aria_

I wrapped everything in the scarf, so he would know it was from me, and then made quick work of flipping the rug back off the hatch and quietly opening it part of the way. Just enough to throw the bundle down to him. I shut the hatch again and pulled the rug back over it. Then I headed off to the shower. I'd done all I could do. Now I would just have to pray that I could keep this charade up for another day and a half, and that Ezra would survive down there until Wesley came for him.


	6. Out of the Frying Pan

_( **WARNING!** Aria continues to process the reality of what Elijah has done to her. And has a flashback to it. Again, if you're triggered by rape, proceed with caution.)_

 **Ezra**

I heard the hatch open and cowered the way I always did. It was a conditioned response at this point. I'd learned not to expect good things when someone came down here. Because only one person ever came down here. Elijah. Sometimes he would give me a Dixie cup full of water or old crusty bread or something. Literally just enough food and water to keep me from dying of hunger and thirst. Besides that, he was just here to torture and taunt me. Physically and mentally.

But then there had been last night. God, had Aria been a sight for sore eyes. Part of me wished that she hadn't found me, that she still thought Elijah was me. Then she wouldn't know what he'd done to her. But the other part was glad that she knew I was down here. Because it meant that, somehow, there was an end to this in sight. I knew she wouldn't stop trying to figure out a way to help me.

She'd actually been surprisingly composed when she'd figured out the reality of what had happened to her. There had been some tears, of course, but it hadn't lasted long. I expected the mental breakdown would probably come later, though. When she'd had a chance to really process it. I hoped I was out of here by then. I had a feeling she wouldn't tell her friends what she was going through and she would need someone to be there for her while she worked through it. Someone who knew.

This time, though, instead of someone coming down here, something just landed on the floor. Whatever it was, it was wrapped in one of Aria's scarves. So it had come from her. I crawled over and grabbed it. My ankle injury from a couple of weeks ago still hurt. A lot. It was probably at least fractured if not completely broken. I literally couldn't put any pressure on it at all. I went back to the corner I'd been cowering in before unwrapping the scarf.

God, this had been brave. And foolish. If he'd caught her, the jig would have been up. He would have known. But I was sure she knew that and just didn't care. She'd told me that she would figure out some way to help me, and she had done just that. She'd somehow managed to smuggle me some food and water and Gatorade (which at this point was even better than water since it had the added benefit of sugar and electrolytes). And medicated lotion and lip balm. But at the bottom of this life-saving bundle of supplies was something even more important. Hope. In the form of three little sentences scribbled on a piece of scratch paper.

 _Wes is coming for you when Elijah and I leave. Stay strong. I love you.  
Aria_

So she'd had another reason to rush out the door to the store earlier besides just trying to get away from Elijah. She'd called my brother. How did she even have his number? Oh, right. He'd stayed at my apartment when I'd gone to Delaware to meet Malcolm. Thank God for that. Maybe everything really did happen for a reason.

I opened the water and took a small sip. I wanted to just chug the whole thing right now, but I knew I had to make the water and Gatorade last at least until tomorrow night. There would be no more coming. Getting this to me had been risky enough. I was almost mad at Aria for even trying. Almost. I couldn't actually be mad. This little bundle of supplies might very well have saved my life. Plus, I knew that she was barely keeping it together and that doing something to help me would ease her mind a little. She would at least know that I had a shot at making it through the next couple of days now. Last night, the way she'd looked at me before she went back up the stairs…it had been the look of someone who didn't know if they would ever see the person they loved again. It had broken my heart.

As quietly as I could, I opened the box of crackers. I could swear Elijah had a dog's hearing. And if he heard me with this stuff down here, well, it was not going to end well for Aria. Never mind for me. Then I took the lid off the peanut butter and ate a few crackers with peanut butter. Again, I had to make this last. And this food was not exactly light on one's stomach. If I ate too much at once, I'd make myself sick.

As the night progressed, things were surprisingly quiet upstairs. Aria had managed to keep Elijah from taking advantage of her again somehow. Thank God. I didn't have the strength to try to break out of here again to help her if he forced her. Hopefully if he did try anything again this weekend, whatever martial arts lessons she'd gotten from Jake might actually prove useful, because I couldn't even stand up on my own anymore. I'd used what little bit of strength I had left last night.

Speaking of useful…she'd given me Carmex and medicated lotion. My chapped and bleeding lips and cracking hands and feet had been killing me. I opened the Carmex and put some on my lips. Son of a bitch. That stung. But the lotion felt amazing. God, I loved her. More than anything. She'd noticed everything. And she'd tried to help even with the small things. To make this at least a little bit easier for me, if she could. What had I ever done to deserve her?

I'd thought time had been at a standstill during the couple of weeks I'd been down here, but I learned the next day that I hadn't even known what time being at a standstill was, let alone what it felt like. Every minute felt like an eternity. Because I knew that once Aria and Elijah left, as soon as she was able, Aria was going to signal Wesley to come for me. And I would get the hell out of here.

 **Aria**

The car ride home on Sunday night was absolutely brutal. I hadn't even realized that an hour and a half could feel so long. I was completely exhausted because I had slept maybe three hours the whole weekend. I was too scared to close my eyes. Too scared Elijah would rape me in my sleep, since I'd just barely managed to keep him at bay while I was awake. Clearly, he'd wanted to torture Ezra by going at it with me all weekend and I could tell he was upset that I hadn't obliged. I'd told him I'd started my period. He appeared to buy it.

But at the same time, I couldn't have been more wide awake. I was counting down the seconds until Elijah drove away from my house so I could call Wesley. I wouldn't be able to sleep tonight until I knew that Ezra was out of that damn cellar.

Between my fear and exhaustion and anxiety, I was dead silent for most of the car ride home.

"What are you thinking?" Elijah asked when we were about twenty minutes outside of Rosewood.

"You don't want to know," I said, trying to buy myself some time to come up with a lie.

"Try me."

"I'm thinking that it's Sunday night and I still have a lot of homework to do," I said. Man, that was lame. And a lie. I'd done all of my homework before we'd left for the weekend.

"Creative writing homework?" he asked.

Okay, writing. This I could talk about. I could just pull something out of thin air and talk about it.

"Okay, you're gonna like this one when I'm done," I started. "It started out as one thing and then it just turned into something completely different."

Kind of like this weekend had. It had started out as some alone time for me to try to figure out whether I had made the right decision and it had turned into me putting on the performance of my life trying to protect myself and the man I loved, who I had discovered trapped in a cellar. Oh, and figuring out that I had been raped by his identical twin brother. Jesus Christ. I couldn't think about this right now. I couldn't start crying right now, and I knew I would if I let myself think about the reality of what had happened to me, what was still happening to me.

"How'd that happen?" Elijah asked, pulling me out of my thoughts.

"I had this hero," I started, "but heroes aren't what they used to be anymore, so I got fascinated with a villain." Not bad.

"Does your villain lose in the end?"

God, I hoped so. But I didn't know. Even though Wesley was getting Ezra out of that place, I still had no idea how we were actually going to deal with the man sitting next to me right now, pretending to be the man I loved.

"I'm not sure," I told him. "Sometimes the villains win."

"Sometimes," he agreed.

And the rest of the car ride home was pretty much silent again. I hoped that hadn't tipped him off. I hoped he just chalked it up to me being tired. When he finally pulled up to my house, it was almost ten. I quickly kissed him goodbye and went upstairs without a word. As soon as I was safely in my room and looked out the window to make sure Elijah was gone, I pulled out my phone.

"Hello?" Wesley answered almost immediately.

"Sorry it took so long," I told him. "We're back in Rosewood. I couldn't even pull out my phone to text you without him getting suspicious before."

"I understand," he told me. "I'm on my way to the cabin now. I'll probably lose you in a minute."

"Just get him out of there, Wes."

"I will, Aria," he said. "I promise. He'll be okay. You both will."

"Call me when you've got him," I said. It wasn't a request.

"I will. Look, I'm going to get us a hotel outside of Rosewood. Come meet us there tomorrow after school. You can't miss Elijah's class, unfortunately, but we do need to figure out what to do about him."

"Okay, sounds good," I said. "Now, just concentrate on driving. You're no good to anyone if you get yourself killed in a car accident because you're talking to me on your cell phone while you're driving."

Wesley laughed. "Yes, ma'am. I'll call you as soon as I can after I get him."

"Thanks, Wes," I said. "I'll talk to you soon."

I hung up and changed into my pajamas and then just sat completely still on my bed, waiting for the news that would either thrill or devastate me. Within an hour, either I would hear Ezra's voice and know he was safely out of there or I would hear he was dead.

 **Ezra**

It had been two hours at least since Elijah and Aria had left. I was starting to worry that something had gone wrong with Aria and Wesley's plans. Or worse, that Elijah had caught on to Aria's game and hurt her before she'd had a chance to call Wesley.

But then I heard the cabin door open.

"Ezra!" Wesley called.

"Wes!" I yelled as loud as I could. But it wasn't loud enough. I was too dehydrated.

I grabbed the half-full jar of peanut butter and threw it at the ceiling, hoping to make some noise. When it fell, I threw it again and again until finally I heard the rug getting pulled back and the hatch opening.

"Ezra?" he called. "Are you down here?"

"Yeah, I'm here," I called back.

Not thirty seconds later, my brother appeared at the bottom of the stairs. The second he saw me, he ran up and knelt in front of me, just the way Aria had when she'd seen me a couple of nights ago.

"Jesus Christ," he said. "Ezra. She wasn't kidding. You look like shit."

I chuckled weakly. "Thanks. It's good to see you too, Wes."

He laughed a little. "Well, at least your sense of humor is still intact. Come on, man. Let's get you out of here. Can you stand?"

"I don't know. I hurt my ankle pretty bad trying to get out the first time he brought Aria here. I fell backwards down the stairs."

"I don't even know what to say. I'm so sorry, Ezra. For you and her."

"Yeah, I think we're both going to have some processing to do when this is over," I agreed.

I grabbed my now-empty water bottle. I needed a refill before we left.

"Leave it," he said. "I've got a gallon of water in the car for you. And some food. Now, let me help you up. Which is your good leg?"

"The right one," I told him.

He went over to my left side and squatted down, wrapping my arm around his shoulders and grabbing me by my waist.

"Okay, just lean on me and let me do all the work."

I obeyed, and soon I was on my feet. Barely. I had no idea how I was going to make it up the stairs.

"Come on," Wesley encouraged. "I've got you. Let's get out of here."

It took about ten minutes, but we made it up the stairs and out of the cellar. I was almost home free.

"Let me rest for a minute," I told him.

"Okay," he agreed, and helped me sit on the bed.

It was all I could do not to just lie down and fall asleep. This was the first soft thing I'd sat on for over two weeks. It felt like sitting on a cloud. I would never, ever take having a bed for granted again.

"Okay, so maybe this wasn't the best idea," I said after a minute or two. "I don't know if I'll ever get up again now."

He chuckled. "How about I get you out of here and to a bed you can actually sleep on?"

"Deal," I said. "Come on, help me up."

I remembered to set the security system. This was, after all, my cabin. I didn't want anyone breaking in until I could stand coming back here.

Then we got in the car and I had to remember to take it slow and not just scarf down the food and guzzle the gallon of water Wesley had waiting for me. I'd make myself sick doing that. After about twenty minutes, Wesley pulled out his cell phone and handed it to me.

"There's someone who's waiting to hear from you," he told me. "Why don't you give her a call?"

"Thanks," I said, pulling up his recent contacts.

"You know, that's one brave girl you've got there. Not many people would have done what she did. What she's still doing. I'd say she's a keeper."

I smiled as I hit dial. "She is."

"Wes," Aria answered on the first ring. "Please tell me he's okay."

"I'm okay, Aria," I said.

"Ezra," she sighed. "Oh, thank God. You're alive."

"Yeah, I'm alive," I told her. "Tired and in pain and trying not to make myself sick with the food and water Wes brought for me, but I'm alive."

"Thank God," she repeated, her voice catching.

I wished I could see her tonight, but I knew it was too dangerous.

"Hey," I said softly. "Thank you. You're the bravest person I know."

"Don't thank me," she sniffled. "Your brother did the heavy lifting."

"He wouldn't have even known to come for me if you hadn't called him," I reminded her. "That was all you. And so was the life-saving food and water that arrived wrapped in a familiar-looking scarf yesterday afternoon."

She chuckled. "I wish I could have done more. God, I wish I could see you right now."

"I know. Me too. Soon," I promised.

"Soon. Hey, can you put me on speaker?"

"Yeah, just a second," I said, smiling as I pressed the button for speakerphone. "Okay, you're on speaker."

"Wes?" she asked.

"Hey, Aria," he said, grinning.

"Thank you again. For everything."

"You are more than welcome," he told her. "I'll text you and tell you where we end up tonight. We'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay. You guys be safe."

"You too," I told her. "I love you."

"I love you too," she said. "Bye."

And then she hung up, and I wanted to cry. All I wanted in this world right now was to see her, and I had to wait until tomorrow.

A few minutes later, Wesley pulled into a 24-hour Walmart parking lot.

"Keep the car locked," he said. "I've got to get you a couple of things. Like, for instance, a change of clothes and some decent soap and shampoo so you can take a shower."

I chuckled. "Yeah, I can imagine I don't smell so great right now."

"You said it, not me," he teased. "I'm going to have to get some car freshener too."

"Gee, thanks," I shot back.

Wesley chuckled.

"Hey, seriously, thank you," I said. "For dropping everything to come help me and Aria."

"What's family for?" he replied, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "I'll be back soon. I know it's hard, but try not to fall asleep yet, okay?"

"I'll try," I told him, but I knew it was going to be difficult. I was so tired.

I knew why though. I was still out in the open and neither of us would really feel safe until we were locked in a hotel room somewhere. If I fell asleep, I was even more vulnerable.

Tired as I was, though, I wasn't sure how well I would really sleep tonight. I wasn't sure how I would ever sleep well again. I wasn't deluding myself. What I had been through was a traumatic experience to say the least. I'd been physically hurt, practically starved to death, deprived of any source of natural light, and forced to listen to the girl I loved being taken advantage of by my morally depraved twin brother. It would take me a lot of time, and probably therapy, to come to terms with this and move on from it.

Wesley came back about half an hour later with an entire shopping cart full of stuff. I didn't even look to see what all it was; I was too tired to care. Right now, I just wanted a shower and a bed. And the one thing I couldn't have tonight. What I really wanted right now, more than anything, was Aria. But I would have to wait until tomorrow. After she got out of school, because she couldn't skip school without raising way too many red flags.

 **Aria**

Exhausted as I was, I couldn't sleep. I was too wound up. And too afraid of what I would see if I closed my eyes. I'd dealt with horrific things before, but nothing compared to this. This hadn't just been hurting me physically.

As a matter of fact, part of what was messing me up so much was that Elijah _hadn't_ actually hurt me physically. He'd just taken advantage of my feelings for his brother and used that knowledge to get me to go to bed with him willingly. It was rape. I knew that. But everyone always said rape wasn't the victim's fault. And I felt like this was my fault. If I had put the pieces together sooner, realized that there was something very wrong, it wouldn't have happened. And maybe I could have found Ezra sooner.

Ezra. That was the other reason I couldn't sleep. I'd heard his voice and I knew he was out of there. But until I actually laid eyes on him and saw for myself that he was okay, I wouldn't really be satisfied. I wanted so badly to skip school tomorrow, but I knew Wesley was right. I had to go. I had to act like nothing had changed, even though everything had changed.

The next day at school, I was pretty much a zombie. Completely useless. Literally, I could barely keep my eyes open. But at the same time I was wide awake, because I was counting down the seconds until I got to head to the hotel Wesley and Ezra were holed up in. I'd brought a change of clothes and something to sleep in with me, just in case. I didn't know how long this was going to take. And frankly, I knew I wouldn't want to leave.

"Aria, what is with you today?" Spencer asked at lunch.

"Sorry," I said. "Just didn't get a lot of sleep this weekend."

"And that's why you keep looking at the clock every five minutes?"

Damn it. My friends knew me too well. I should have known they'd be able to tell something was up. I wanted to tell them everything, and I would tell them, when it was safe. Until we dealt with Elijah, the less people that knew, the better.

"Yeah, I just really want to go home and crash," I told them.

"What were you _doing_ this weekend in Syracuse?" Hanna asked. "Actually, I take that back. I'm not sure I want to know."

"Hanna!" I scolded. "I have a boyfriend."

I was purposely vague on the name of said boyfriend. I hadn't told them I'd broken up with Jake. I would, but after everything was over. Because it was all tied together.

"Aria, if you need to leave, we can cover for you for the rest of the day," Emily said.

God, that was tempting. But I couldn't do it. I couldn't do anything differently. Even the slightest change in my behavior might tip Elijah off. And that was a risk I couldn't take.

"Thanks, Em, but I'll be fine," I said. "I only have 3 more classes anyway. And one of them's Ezra's class."

"And the truth comes out," Spencer teased. "Now we know the real reason you want to stay."

"Yeah, you caught me," I said, trying to sound guilty.

My friends all giggled, blissfully ignorant. They had no idea.

Elijah's class was torture. And the lesson he started was disturbing as hell. _Hamlet_. This talk of murdering brothers did not sit well with me. At all. I forced myself to pay attention, and finally, the bell rang. I was free.

"Aria, can I see you for a second?" Elijah asked as I was walking out.

Crap.

"Yeah, sure," I said, forcing a smile.

Elijah waited until everyone was gone and shut the door.

"I just wanted to make sure you're okay," he said. "You were so quiet on the way home last night. I'm so sorry if this weekend was too much pressure for you."

"No, it wasn't," I told him. "I was just tired. And I was up late last night finishing my homework, which I blame you for."

He chuckled. "Yeah, sorry. I'm the one who told you to make sure you're getting enough sleep and then I prevented you from doing your homework for the whole weekend."

I forced a chuckle too. "Well, I'm not going to make the same mistake tonight. I'm going to go get my work done and go to bed at a reasonable hour tonight."

"Okay," he said. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow," I said, and had to stop myself from sprinting out the door.

I got in my car and pulled up the text message from Wesley that contained the address of the hotel they were at, then plugged that into my GPS app. I may or may not have broken a couple of traffic laws getting there. But twenty minutes later, I was parked in the back of the parking lot and walking up to their room. I knocked, and Wesley answered almost immediately.

"Hey, there she is," he said with a smile.

I chuckled and gave him a hug. "Hey, Wes."

"Come on in," he said as he shut the door. "I know I'm not the one you really want to see."

"Sorry."

"It's all good. I've resigned myself to being chopped liver tonight."

We both laughed, and I heard a third laugh too. I looked over and Ezra was lying on one of the two beds in the room looking exhausted and still way too thin, but with a huge grin on his face. I walked up to the bed and hesitated for all of half a second before hugging him as tight as I could. I was a little afraid I was hurting him, but he didn't seem to mind. He held me tight and kissed my head, letting me be the first to let go.

"Thank God you're okay," I said when I finally pulled back to look at him. "Don't scare me like that again."

He smiled and touched my face. "I didn't want to scare you. But it's not like I really had a choice in the matter."

I just froze. I couldn't believe I'd said that.

"Hey, it's okay," he said. "We're both here now. And we're going to get through this together."

I smiled, and he scooted over in the bed to make room for me. I immediately sat down, and he pulled me as close as humanly possible. I giggled.

"If I didn't know better, I'd say you missed me," I teased.

"And you'd be right," he said.

That was it. I needed a kiss. Now. I sat back up and pulled him in. It started out soft and sweet, but quickly turned into something I was sure his brother was getting uncomfortable watching. Unwillingly, I broke it and just leaned back against him. He squeezed me and kissed the top of my head.

"Jeez, you two, get a room," Wesley teased.

Ezra and I chuckled.

"Well, seeing as I'm the one who can't walk, if someone needs to get another room, it would be you," Ezra shot back.

"Can't walk?" I asked, giving Ezra a pointed look.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure his ankle is at least fractured if not completely broken, but this knucklehead refuses to go to a hospital," Wesley said.

"Ezra!" I scolded.

"I'll go once we deal with Elijah," he said. "Remember him? The guy who locked me in a cellar for over two weeks and manipulated his way into your life posing as me?"

"Not just my life," I said. "All of your students' lives too. My friends' lives. He tried to get into Spencer's head by giving her a bad grade and he's got Emily co-directing the spring play with him."

"I'm pretty sure you got it the worst, though," Ezra said, squeezing me tight and kissing my head again.

"Okay, let's not go there right now," I said. This was still happening, and I couldn't start processing that right now. "How are we going to stop him? Especially when Ezra can't walk."

"I'll get myself up to my apartment if I have to crawl," Ezra said. "It's going to have to happen there."

"No one is crawling anywhere," Wesley said. "I'll make you a splint or something so I can help you hobble up the stairs."

"And once you're there?" I asked. "What then? You ask him nicely to pretty please let you have your life back? Because, call me crazy, but I don't see that going so well for any of us."

" _You_ are not going to be anywhere near there when this happens," Ezra tried.

"Nice try, babe," I scoffed. "You're going to need me to get you in. You don't have a key anymore."

"Damn it," he sighed. "You're right."

"Aria has a point, though," Wesley said. "What exactly are we going to do when we get there? He's not going to take it well when he finds out that the jig is up."

"And given what little I've gathered, making Elijah angry is like kicking a beehive," I added. "Ezra? You're the one whose life he's stolen. What do you want to do?"

"What I _want_ to do and what we should do are two very different things," he sighed.

I was right there with him. I _wanted_ to castrate this pathetic excuse for a human being and then feed him the part of himself that I'd just cut off as an appetizer before going Hannibal Lecter on him and feeding him his sick and twisted brain as a main course, but that unfortunately would land me in jail. And the fact that I drew the line somewhere was what made me different from him. I needed that knowledge.

"I know exactly what you mean," I said. "I'd love to castrate the son of a bitch. I think we'd all like to make him die a slow and painful death, but unfortunately murder is still illegal. Even when the person deserves it."

"So what?" Wesley asked. "We get him committed? He'll sweet-talk his way out of an insane asylum in a heartbeat."

"Can we have him arrested?" I asked. "Is there enough evidence at the cabin? Is Ezra's condition enough evidence? Can they take fingerprints from his classroom and compare them to the ones he has on file as an educator?"

"That's not the worst idea in the world, but how do we keep him in one place long enough for that?" Ezra asked. "He'll just slip away and be impossible to find again until he comes back and tries something even worse to hurt us."

"I just said murder was illegal. Hurting him or temporarily weakening him isn't," I pointed out. "You can claim self-defense."

"And if he does something to hurt us first?" Wesley said.

"There's one of him. There's three…well, two and a half of us," I told him. "We can get the drop on him."

"I like how you're suddenly half a person, Ezra," he teased. "I'm starting to get a little worried. First your girlfriend says she wants to castrate someone and now you're only half a person. I think you might be dating a budding serial killer."

"Oh, you didn't hear what I kept to myself about what I'd like to do to him. Then you'd be really worried," I shot back.

We all laughed, and Ezra kissed my temple.

"I'm pretty sure what you kept to yourself isn't nearly as gruesome as what I've fantasized about doing to Elijah over the past couple weeks while I got to watch and listen to everything he did to you," he said tensely. "I wanted to rip him apart limb from limb with my bare hands."

"Because you totally would have had the strength for that," Wesley said. "You couldn't even stand up on your own."

"Yeah, I got exactly one good punch in," he chuckled.

"At least you got that," I said. "I had to act like I still thought he was you. I still do until this is over."

Ezra turned me around so I was facing him and kissed my forehead before he crushed me tightly against his chest. It took everything I had not to start crying. I just let myself melt against him, taking comfort in the shelter of his arms and trying not to think about what I would have to do when I got back to Rosewood.

"Aria, if you can't handle this, tell me," he said a minute later, pushing me back so he could look me in the eyes. "We'll figure out some other way."

Honestly? I couldn't handle it. I hadn't been able to handle it this past weekend. I'd wanted to just go hide in the damn cellar with Ezra. And right now, I wanted to just hide out here in this hotel room and not leave until Elijah was gone for good. But the reality of the situation was, there was no other way. If we were going to take him down, I had to keep playing my part.

"Ezra, you and I both know there is no other way," I said, a few of the tears I'd been fighting back coming to the corners of my eyes. "He can't suspect anything until it's too late for him to do anything about it. Part of that is me playing my part."

"And here most teenage girls are just sitting there wondering if the guy they like is going to ask them to prom," Wesley chuckled.

"Oh, what I wouldn't give to have normal teenage girl problems," I said, turning back around to look at Wesley. "But I haven't been that lucky since sophomore year."

"I could make a really inappropriate joke right now involving a certain Police song about a student and teacher, but I'll refrain," he teased.

"After you pretty much already said it," I said, rolling my eyes.

"That's my brother for you," Ezra chuckled, kissing my hair.

"He probably can't even come up with anything," I teased. "Which is why he didn't actually make a joke."

"Nah, I'll just pull out my iPod and play the song. I'm pretty sure it tells the exact story of the first half of your junior year," Wesley shot back.

"…And he went there," I said, and I felt myself blush.

"You're lucky I can't stand up right now, Wes, or I'd kick your ass," Ezra said.

"Babe, how about we focus the anger where it belongs?" I suggested. "At your other brother."

"Listen to your girl, Ezra," Wesley said, laughing.

"Okay, seriously, guys, let's focus," I said. "How are we going to do this? When are we going to do this?"

"Can I just point out that the person taking charge of this situation isn't even a legal adult yet?" Wesley shook his head. "Puts me to shame."

"She puts us all to shame," Ezra said, and I didn't have to look at him to know he'd be glowing with pride. "And she's right. We can't just do this flying by the seat of our pants. We need a plan."

It took us until at least nine to nail down a plan. Basically, I was going to go over to the apartment the next day and suggest ordering a pizza for dinner. Wesley and Ezra were going to be waiting in the hallway out of sight of the surveillance cameras and when the pizza delivery guy came, they'd tip him generously and take the pizza from him. Then they'd knock on the door instead, and they'd come in. A better scenario would be if Elijah was in the shower while this was happening so I could just quietly let them in, but we couldn't bank on what he was going to do. So they'd be equipped with a baseball bat or something to hit him over the head if they had to.

"God, I wish you didn't have to go," Ezra said as I went to get up so I could leave.

"Well, if I don't go back to Rosewood, it might make certain people suspicious," I told him.

He sighed and was quiet for a minute.

"Then let them be suspicious," Wesley said just as Ezra was opening his mouth to say something. "You two need some time alone. The irony of what Ezra said when you first got here is I actually did book a different room for tonight. Down the hall."

"Well, you don't have to twist my arm," I said. "The Hanna excuse is getting a little worn out though. Wonder how many more times my dad will buy it."

"Hanna? What's going on with Hanna?" Ezra asked.

"Oh, right. You don't know. She and Caleb broke up and she's pretty much been a hot mess," I told him.

"Wow. Yeah, I can imagine," he said. "So what else have I missed while I was down there?"

"Besides me breaking up with Jake, not much," I told him. "But you probably already figured that out."

"I had a feeling. Though, for you, I'd happily be the other guy. I'll take you any way I can get you."

I laughed and got back into bed next to him. "Well, lucky for you, I'm a one guy at a time kind of girl."

"And that's my cue," Wesley laughed as he headed towards the door. "I'll see you two lovebirds tomorrow."

Ezra and I chuckled as he shut the door behind him.

As soon as we were alone, Ezra pulled me back in close and kissed me, basically picking up where we had left off when I first got here. It was probably five minutes later when I broke the kiss, gasping for breath.

"Wait," I panted. "I actually do have to come up with an alibi."

I called my dad and he didn't even question me staying with Hanna. He was probably starting to think she needed a therapist. Hanna wanted to know what was going on when I told her she was my alibi, but accepted it when I told her I'd tell her soon. If all went well, I could tell my friends everything tomorrow. Hopefully.

Then I turned back to Ezra and kissed him again, and before I knew it, we were lying down on the bed and he was above me. I was sure this was horrible for his bad leg, but he didn't seem to mind.

Out of nowhere, I had a flashback. The first time Elijah had taken me to the cabin. How wrong it had felt. And I froze. It wasn't that this felt wrong. If anything, it was the stark contrast between how right this was and how wrong that had been. Maybe combined with the knowledge that I hadn't put two and two together and realized that sick freak wasn't really the man I loved.

Ezra stopped immediately and rolled back over to his side of the bed. I hadn't even had to say anything. He just knew.

I felt like...like this was my fault. Like I was broken and might never work right again. Maybe I would never be able to do this again. And the tears I'd managed to keep at bay for three days fell.

"Hey," he whispered, rolling over to look at me. "It's okay. I shouldn't have let it go that far. I'm so sorry. I'm an idiot."

I turned to look at him, and all I saw was concern written all over his face. And love. More love than I could even comprehend. He wasn't going anywhere.

"I'm the idiot," I said. "How did I not see it? There were so many little things that were different, but I just kept thinking it was all in my head instead of trusting my instincts."

"And that was exactly what he wanted. He wanted you to second-guess yourself. He wanted you to question what you knew in your gut was wrong."

"So I played right into his hands," I sniffled. "I did exactly what he wanted me to do. And I helped him torture you. You're the one person in this world that I never wanted to hurt. How can you even look at me right now?"

"Because I love you," he said, kissing my forehead. "Look, this is no one's fault but his. I don't blame you, and it kills me that you're blaming yourself. I understand why, and I know it's going to take you time to process all of this and come to terms with it. But as long as you want me here, I'm not going anywhere. I'm not going to let you go through any of this alone."

And that made me start crying again. Because I didn't know if any amount of time was going to be enough. I might never be the same again. I felt just...broken.

"And what if he broke me?" I said through my tears.

He smiled and pulled me into his arms, then kissed my hair and rested his head on mine.

"Well," he said, "you'll find that I'm quite good at fixing things. Sometimes it takes a while, but eventually I manage."

I smiled. God, I loved Ezra. I had no idea what I'd done to deserve his love, but I didn't know what I would do without it. Especially now. I seriously wished I never had to leave this hotel room again. That I could just stay here, where I felt safe and loved.

But tomorrow, I'd have to leave. And play my part to perfection with the person who looked exactly like him but couldn't have been more different. And, God willing, put an end to this insanity.


	7. And Into the Fire

_( **WARNING!** Mildly graphic violence at the end of this chapter, as well as more references to what happened to Aria.)_

 **Ezra**

Aria's cell phone alarm woke me up, but when I opened my eyes, she was still sound asleep. I didn't want to wake her. She'd had a rough night. She was up every couple of hours with nightmares. I wanted to just tell her to skip school today and get some rest, which I was sure she hadn't gotten much of in the past few days. If I'd had to guess, before last night, she'd probably gotten a grand total of six hours of sleep in three days. But if we were going to take Elijah down, she had to get up and go about her normal routine. So I turned off the alarm and shook her gently. She groaned and opened her eyes.

"You have no idea how much I hate to wake you up, but you just slept through your alarm," I told her, kissing her forehead.

Aria just scooted a little closer and wrapped her arms around me. I knew she was terrified of leaving here and getting up would mean that she had to leave. I didn't want to let her do this. She'd done enough and she was too young to be caught up in the middle of this. I couldn't ask any more of her.

"Okay, that's it," I said. "We're coming up with a new plan. One that doesn't involve you."

"Yeah, what's that?" she scoffed. "You're going to come to the school and have a show-down in the middle of a classroom full of students? Face it, Ezra. There's no other way. There is absolutely no plan that will work that doesn't involve me. And I'll do it because I love you more than I'm scared of him, but just give me a minute, okay?"

Much as I hated to admit it, she was right. She was, unfortunately, a crucial part of our plan. She was the one who was going to guarantee that we didn't confront Elijah in a public place, where anyone around him was a potential victim. She was going to ensure that this turned into what it should have been all along: a potentially deadly dispute between brothers.

I squeezed her tight. "Okay. Just a minute, though. You're running late."

Aria laid there in my arms silently for a minute, then sighed and gave me a kiss before getting up and getting a change of clothes out of her bag.

"Wait, you were getting ready to leave last night, but you actually brought a change of clothes with you?" I asked.

"Well, I tried to let common sense take over, but then you and your brother ganged up on me," she teased. "Not that I'm complaining. Even though I'm sure it didn't seem like it to you, last night was the most sleep I've gotten in days. Being with you helped me sleep at least a little bit better."

I understood that completely. I'd slept easier last night than I had in weeks and I knew it was because she'd been here with me.

"I wish I could tell you to just skip school and get some rest, but you can't today," I sighed. "Not if we're going to put an end to this. Normally, as an educator, I wouldn't advocate a student skipping school, but…"

"But when that student is also your girlfriend, who you've barely seen in weeks, you'll look for any excuse to spend time with her?" she said as she walked to the bathroom with her clothes. That felt a little odd, but it wasn't altogether unexpected after everything she'd been through.

I chuckled. "Yeah, you got me. That, and I worry about her. She's just been through a lot and she's barely let herself process any of it."

"And she also loves being talked to in the third person," she teased.

"Sorry. But seriously. It feels like I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop over here."

She walked out in her new clothes and sat down on the bed, putting her hand on my face.

"Look, I'm not deluding myself," she told me. "I know I need to let myself feel everything and process it. But I can't even start to process any of this when I still have to put on a show with Elijah. If I start to think too much about it, I won't be able to do what I have to do."

Well, that did make sense.

"And you're not the only one who feels like they're waiting for the other shoe to drop," she continued. "What about you? You're the one he held in an underground cellar with barely any food or water for weeks. And you had to watch and listen to him do what he did to me. I haven't seen so much as a frown."

"You do realize that the entire time I was down there, you were the only thing I thought about, right? I tried to fight my way out of there because of you. You were what kept me going. So, yes, I'm struggling, but that's outweighed by the fact that you're safe and here with me right now."

Aria smiled and kissed me, then grabbed her phone. And as she was looking at it, she froze.

"Oh, my God," she said, her voice shaking.

I scooted towards her and kissed her shoulder.

"What is it?"

"I know you're really you, but just humor me. Tell me what B26 is."

"It's our song," I told her. "'Happiness.'"

"Well, I hate to say this, but the best laid plans..." Aria said, handing me her phone. I took it and read a text that had come from my phone, which Elijah currently had.

 _If you see someone who looks exactly like me, steer clear of him. He's dangerous. I wish I could tell you this in person but it can't wait. I'm sorry._

Oh, shit. He'd been to the cabin. He knew I was gone. And now he was going to try to convince her that I was him. But he had to know she wouldn't buy it.

"The funny thing is that he basically just called himself dangerous," Aria said after a minute. Of course she would try to make a joke.

"Shit," I sighed. "The best laid plans, indeed."

"Well, looks like you got your wish. I'm definitely not going to school today," she said.

"Call Wes," I told her, giving her phone back to her. "Get him back in here. We need to regroup and figure out what the hell we're supposed to do now."

She dialed his number, and I had a feeling she woke him up, because it took him a little while to answer.

"Wes," she said when he answered. "Get back to our room. Now."

There was a pause as he spoke.

"Everything just fell apart. Elijah must have gone to the cabin last night and he figured out Ezra's gone. He just sent me a very disturbing text."

After another short pause, Aria hung up and just sat there staring off into space. God, what I would have given for her not to be involved. She'd been through enough in her seventeen years already. Why did he have to add this to it? It just wasn't fair.

"Aria, come here," I said.

Before she could get back into the bed, though, there was a knock at the door. I wasn't about to let her answer it. If it wasn't Wesley, it could be bad news. I went to stand up.

"Ezra, what the hell are you doing?" Aria asked.

"I'm not about to let you be the one to answer the door," I told her. "What if it's Elijah?"

"No matter who it is, you are not getting out of that bed right now. Lay back down before I break your other ankle so you really can't walk," she said, and walked towards the door. "Wes, is that you?"

Or she could do that. Why hadn't that crossed my mind? Well, I guessed hypervigilance was to be expected after what I'd been through.

"Yeah, it's me," came Wesley's voice. Aria opened the door and let him in. "Morning. So, I guess you're not going to school today."

Aria chuckled tensely. "Nope."

"Damn, this sucks," he said. "What the hell are we supposed to do now?"

"That's putting it mildly," I said. "And our options are kind of limited since my budding serial killer girlfriend has just threatened to break my other ankle if I try to get out of this bed right now."

Wesley laughed. "Good for her. At least one of you is thinking straight."

Aria chuckled and came back to the bed. I pulled her close and sighed.

"So, do you have any more brilliant ideas up your sleeve?" I asked.

"Why are you looking at me?" she complained. "I'm all out of ideas. Right now I just want to hide out here and hope he doesn't find us."

"He'll find us here eventually," I said. "We need to move. We've been here too long already."

"Wait," Wesley said. "Aria, when did he send that text?"

"Um..." She looked at her phone. "Last night around eleven."

"You guys might not like this idea, but we could still trap him."

"How? Where?" I asked.

"Aria, can you get him back to the cabin somehow?" he asked her. "The three of us could be there waiting."

"He's not going to trust me," she pointed out. "I somehow think he knows I helped get Ezra out."

"Not if you let him think you still think he's me. Tell him I tried to hurt you when you let me out," I suggested.

"Yeah, because he's really going to buy that," Wesley said. "He may not be able to actually feel love himself, but he knows how you feel about Aria. That's why he did what he did to her. There is no way he's going to believe for a second that you tried to hurt her. No, Aria, you need to play dumb. Act like you have no idea what the hell he's talking about."

"Well if I'm doing that, I need to call him now," she said. "Try to do some damage control. We still may be able to use our original plan of having this happen in the apartment. If I suggest going out to the cabin again he'll get suspicious."

"Go for it," I told her. "But I still don't want you leaving today."

"I'll tell him I slept through my alarm and I'm taking a mental health day," she said. "I actually think he'll buy it. Then we can all just go to your apartment while he's at school and wait for him. It'll give you more time to get yourself up the stairs anyway. But...I think I need to bring my friends into the loop. I hate to say this, but we need eyes on him at the school."

She was right. We would need to know if Elijah didn't show up or if he suddenly left early.

"I have no issues with that. I trust them," I told her.

"Are you sure they can pull off the act?" Wesley asked.

"Absolutely," I said. I had every faith in these girls.

"Well, guys, I'm gonna need complete silence while I try to call Elijah," Aria sighed as she sat back up. "Let's pray to whatever God is listening that this works."

Aria took a shaky breath as she dialed Elijah's (well, my) number. I put a hand on her shoulder, trying to calm her down. She took another breath and put the phone to her ear, grabbing hold of the hand I had on her shoulder with her free hand.

"Ezra," she said when he answered. "I got your text. What in the hell is going on? Why would I see someone else who looks exactly like you?"

There was a pause and the look on Aria's face told me she was trying to keep back tears as he talked to her.

"Oh my God. That's insane. I'm kind of glad I slept through my alarm today. Maybe I should stay away from school just in case."

There was another pause. God, I wished she could risk putting it on speakerphone so we could hear.

"Yeah, I'll just tell my dad I have a headache," she said. "He'll let me stay home. Look, can I come to your place tonight? After school gets out? It sounds like we need to talk."

Another pause.

"Okay, I'll see you then. Listen, be safe today. I love you."

A very short pause.

"Okay, bye."

Aria hung up and put the phone down and was dead silent for a minute. I squeezed her shoulder.

"Well?" I asked.

"He bought it," she said, sounding a little bit like she was in shock.

I couldn't stand seeing her like this. She was obviously completely terrified.

"Hey, come back over here," I said.

"No, wait," she said. "I have to call my friends."

"And all the cell phone service disappears in the middle of this bed?"

Aria grabbed her phone before letting me pull her back against me. She leaned against my chest and looked up at me.

"I feel like I'm going crazy," she sighed. "Maybe you should just check me into Radley."

I chuckled and leaned down to kiss her. "Maybe. At least you'd be safe there."

"Okay, I really do need to call my friends before school starts," she said, pulling up Spencer's number on her phone. "God, I don't even know how to tell them about this."

"Just keep it simple for now," I told her. "Only tell them what you absolutely need to. You can give them details after we deal with him."

She hit dial and put it on speaker.

"Aria, where are you?" Spencer asked. "The bell's in ten minutes."

"Yeah, I'm not going to make it in today," she said. "Listen, Spence, where are Hanna and Emily? I need to talk to all three of you. It's important."

"We're all together," she said. "Should I put you on speaker?"

"No, not on speaker. I'm going to call Emily and conference you in. Then you call Hanna. And you three need to spread out. It can't be too obvious."

"Okay…" she said. "What's going on?"

"Just trust me," Aria said. "I'll explain everything when we're all on our cell phones. Okay?"

A minute later, all three girls were on the line. And Aria told them the three-minute version of the story.

"Oh, my God," Hanna said. "So that guy teaching our English class who just walked past me a minute ago isn't Ezra?"

"Nope," Aria said. "It's Elijah. Ezra's right here with me."

"Hi, ladies," I said. "You're on speaker."

"Yeah, hi, three girls I've never met before," Wesley chimed in.

Aria and I chuckled.

"And that was Wes, if you didn't figure that out," Aria told them.

"I just…wow," Spencer said. "Ezra, are you okay?"

"I will be," I told her. "I'm not going to lie; I need to get to a hospital as soon as we deal with Elijah, but I'll be okay."

"How can we help?" Emily asked.

"We need eyes on Elijah while he's there," Aria said. "We need to know if he leaves campus. Wes and I are going to get Ezra back to his apartment and we'll be there waiting for Elijah when school lets out. But if he leaves early, we need to know about it."

"And if he talks to any students I was never close with, tell us that, too," I added.

"Actually, he has seemed to be getting kind of chummy with Mona lately," Hanna said. "I thought it was weird that you were making nice with her after what she did to Aria and the rest of us. But I guess that wasn't really you."

"Damn it," I sighed. "Of course he would develop an interest in Mona. Nope, that definitely wasn't me."

"How in the hell did I not notice that?" Aria asked.

"Because he didn't want you to," I told her, kissing her hair. "And because you weren't looking for anything out of the ordinary. You were trying to see what was familiar, not what was different. That was what Elijah was banking on. That's why none of you caught on."

"Jesus. We all played right into his hands," Spencer said.

"Listen, you girls need to act like you don't know anything," I said. "Act like you're not afraid of him. Avoid him if you can, but don't make it obvious. Can you handle that?"

"Yeah," Emily said, taking a deep breath.

"It'll be tough, but yeah, I can do it," Spencer said.

"Hanna?" Aria asked.

"Yeah, I'm in," Hanna sighed. "Aria, there's more you're not telling us, isn't there?"

Well, Spencer was the one with the book smarts, but Hanna definitely was the best at reading people. Even over the phone.

"I could write a book with what I'm not telling you," Aria admitted. "I promise I'll tell you guys everything when this is all over. But right now, we don't have time. You three need to get to class, and Wes and I need to figure out how to make Ezra semi-mobile on his bum ankle so we can get him up the two flights of stairs to his apartment."

"Okay, you guys be safe," Spencer said. "You realize you're scaring the hell out of us doing this alone, right, Aria?"

"I'm not alone," she said. "I'm with Ezra and Wes. I'll be fine."

I smiled; she had such faith in me. Even while I was basically an invalid.

"Call us when you can," Emily said. "Please."

"I will," she promised. "As soon as we end this and get Ezra to a hospital."

"Okay, we'll talk to you later," Hanna said. "Bye."

"Bye," Aria said, and hung up.

"Do you honestly think they can pull this off?" Wesley asked.

"Wes, if you knew what these girls have had to deal with in the past year and a half, you wouldn't be asking that question," I told him. "Aria's holding it together even after everything she's been through in the past four days, so you'd better believe those girls can too."

"Have I told you lately that I love you?" Aria asked, smiling at me.

I kissed her and tightened my embrace. "I love you, too."

"Okay, so how are we going to get you mobile?" she asked.

"We need to make him a splint or something," Wesley said. "He's got an ACE wrap on now, but that's not even close to being enough. He needs way more support on his ankle than that."

"What do we have that we can use?"

"Honestly? Nothing. I need to make a run to the store. And it's too dangerous for either of you to be seen out and about, which means you guys get an hour or so to yourselves."

"Can you bring back some coffee?" Aria asked. "I'm going to need caffeine if I'm going to be even remotely useful today."

He chuckled as he headed towards the door. "You got it. If you play your cards right, I might even bring some breakfast too. I'll be back soon."

As soon as Wesley closed the door behind him, Aria looked up at me again.

"Are you going to be offended if I try to get a little more sleep?" she asked.

"I was actually going to suggest that," I told her, moving down in the bed so we were lying down. "How much sleep did you actually get this weekend?"

"About four hours total between Friday night and Sunday night. I couldn't sleep while I was with him and then Sunday night I was too wound up worrying about you to sleep. Even after you called. And I was too afraid of what I would see when I closed my eyes."

"I wish I could kill him," I sighed.

"Ezra," she started.

"I'm serious. I can deal with what he did to me, but knowing what he did to you? The fact that he's going to get to spend the rest of his life behind bars just isn't good enough."

"It has to be," she told me. "You're a good person, and you have morals. You draw the line somewhere. That's what makes you different from Elijah. You have to hold on to that."

I had to smile. Aria really was wise and mature beyond her years. It was one of the many reasons I'd fallen in love with her.

"You're right," I sighed, kissing her hair. "Now, try to get some sleep. I love you."

"I love you, too," she said, closing her eyes.

A minute later, I heard the slow, even breathing that meant she was asleep. And I closed my eyes too, trying to follow suit.

 **Aria**

Ezra gently shook me out of a blissfully dreamless sleep, kissing my hair.

"I hate to wake you up again, but Wes is back," he told me.

"Okay, you two are the most boring couple on the planet," I heard Wesley say. "I come back from the store expecting to need to wait outside while you make yourselves decent, and instead you're sleeping."

"Well," I said, sitting up and trying to knock the cobwebs out of my brain, "when you've gotten a grand total of about ten hours of sleep in four days, I'd like to see what you'd do if you were stuck in a hotel room."

"Touché," he chuckled. "Well, I brought something to help you stay awake. I figured you'd need more than one cup so I went for a box of coffee. Ezra, sorry, but you don't get any. I'm not about to let the acid eat a hole in your fragile stomach."

"Not fair," Ezra mock whined. "But smart, I guess."

"You're just lucky I'm not making you drink Ensure, which is probably what I should be doing," Wesley shot back.

After we ate breakfast, Wesley and I got to work trying to make a splint for Ezra. I felt bad because I could tell putting pressure on his ankle with the wraps and rods Wes got was killing him, but he was a good sport and let us work.

"Okay, moment of truth," Wesley said. "Try to stand up."

I went around to the other side of the bed so I could help support Ezra if he needed it. And he slowly (and, I could tell, painfully) stood up. I could see him grimace and it looked like he was starting to sweat, but he stood there for about thirty seconds before saying anything.

"Damn, that hurts," he finally said.

"Sit back down," I told him, and then turned to his brother. "Wes, I don't know what we're going to do. If he can't even stand up, how are we going to get him up two flights of stairs?"

"He'll manage," Ezra said. "And he loves being talked about like he's not here."

I chuckled. "Sorry. But you have to face the facts, babe. This isn't working. I'm not going to let you make this worse because you're too stubborn to admit defeat."

"If I make it worse, I make it worse," he insisted. "I'll spend a year in a cast if I have to. After I get Elijah out of our lives."

"And even I can't argue with that logic," Wesley sighed. "So when are we heading over there?"

I checked my phone and it was his lunch break. I decided to text Spencer and see if Elijah was still at the school. As long as he was still on campus now, he couldn't just leave without raising suspicions until the end of the school day. He had back to back classes until school let out after his lunch break. She replied almost immediately and told me he was still there. I told her that we were heading to his apartment now and we needed to know when he left.

"Let's go now," I told them. "We've got about two and a half hours before he heads home. And with the way you're moving, Ezra, we'll need all the time we can get."

"How many cars should we take?" Wesley asked.

"Um…" I said.

That was actually a fantastic question. Did he know what Wesley's car looked like? Would it be better if we all piled in my car? Or should we take Wesley's so he wouldn't know I was there? Should we take separate cars?

"We should take Wes's car," Ezra said after a few seconds. "He won't recognize it. Better for him not to realize anyone at all is there until it's too late. Even though he's expecting Aria, it's not until later. He might get suspicious if he sees her car when he gets there."

"Good call," I agreed.

"Okay, I need to go clear off the backseat for you two," he said. "I'll be back in a minute and then Aria and I can help you get into the car, Ezra."

As soon as Wesley was out of the room, Ezra turned to look at me.

"As soon as you get us into the apartment, I want you to leave," he told me. "Get the hell out of there and go to one of your friends' houses and lock yourselves in. I can't put you in this kind of danger."

If Ezra actually thought I was going to be anywhere but right there with him, he was insane. I'd just gotten him back. I wasn't about to take the chance of letting him go again.

"No," I insisted.

"Aria, I won't be able to do this if I'm worried about you," he said. "I need to know you're safe. I can't watch my own back if I'm worried about protecting you in case things turn violent, which they probably will."

I melted a little. I knew where he was coming from and I knew that he just wanted me safe. But the thing was, I wouldn't survive the not knowing. The uncertainty. I needed him safe too, and I knew that he couldn't defend himself in his condition. He was too weak and he could barely stand up. And this was personal for me too. This was the man who had raped me. I needed to be there too. I needed to have a part in making sure he never saw the light of day again.

"Ezra, I just got you back," I told him. "If I leave you knowing that you're about to be in the same danger you just got out of with the same person, I _will_ go crazy. You'll have to come visit me in Radley, and that's not a joke. I need you safe too. My sanity depends on it. And let's face it, you can't exactly defend yourself right now."

"Aria—" he started, but I stopped him with a kiss.

"I'm not finished," I said. "This is personal for me too. Have you forgotten what he did to me? I need to be there and I need to have a part in making sure that Elijah never sees the light of day again."

Ezra sighed and pulled me into his arms, resting his head on mine.

"Okay, you can stay," he said. "Against my better judgement, you can stay."

I couldn't help myself. I laughed. And not just a little chuckle either. That last sentence basically summed up the basis of our entire relationship.

"What?" he chuckled, pulling back to look at me.

"You do realize you just summed up our entire relationship with that last sentence?" I giggled.

Then he started laughing too.

"You're right; I did," he said when he'd caught his breath.

I kissed him. "Well, I'm glad you didn't listen to your better judgement."

"So am I," he said, kissing me again. "I love you."

And at that moment, the door opened and Wesley walked back in.

"Do I even want to know what was so funny?" he asked. "I could hear you guys laughing down the hall."

"Oh, just my apparent inability to use sound judgement with Aria," Ezra said.

I blushed; that sounded way worse than he'd meant it. He should have just kept his mouth shut.

Wesley chuckled. "Yeah. I don't want to know."

"Get your mind out of the gutter, Wes," I chuckled.

"If it wasn't for the gutter, his mind would be homeless," Ezra teased.

"Give me some credit," Wesley shot back. "I don't _live_ in the gutter. But I do vacation there often. Okay, are you ready to go out to the car?"

"No," Ezra sighed. "But I don't have a choice. Let's do this."

"All right, I'm going to take your bad side. Put your weight on me. Aria, take his good side and help him stay steady on his good leg."

Wesley sat down on the bed on Ezra's left side, putting an arm around his back and wrapping Ezra's arm around his shoulders as he helped him stand up. As soon as he was on his feet, I wrapped an arm around Ezra's lower back and he put his other arm around my shoulders, using me as support so he didn't fall over. And somehow, amidst a lot of cursing and pained cries that broke my heart into a million pieces, Wesley and I managed to get Ezra to the car and into the backseat. I got in next to him, and Wesley went to grab a few things out of the room before we headed to Ezra's apartment. I leaned against Ezra's shoulder and he pulled me close and kissed my hair.

"Are you okay?" I asked him.

"Besides being in more pain than the human body should be able to process? Yeah, I'm fine," he said through gritted teeth.

"I'm sorry. That was a dumb question. I wish there was something I could do. Not being able to help you at all kills me."

"You're here; that's enough," he said, kissing my head again.

Half an hour later, we were pulling up to Ezra's apartment building. Just to be safe, I texted Emily to make sure Elijah was still at school. And we were good to go. He was still teaching. It literally took me and Wesley an hour to get Ezra up the stairs. Luckily, the key was still under the mat. Elijah probably didn't even know it was there. We got Ezra inside and onto the couch. And then began the waiting game. My heart was in my throat waiting for a text from one of my friends to tell me that Elijah was on his way back here.

Ezra must have seen my fear written all over my face, because he put a hand on my face and made me look at him.

"You can still leave," he said. "You don't have to be here for this."

"Yes, I do," I told him. "I have as much of a stake in the outcome of this as you do."

"Aria, this is almost certainly going to get ugly fast," Wesley said, but I could tell he knew I wasn't about to walk out that door.

"Wes, have you forgotten what he did to me?" I asked. "This is personal for me too."

"Yeah, you're right," he sighed. "Face it, Ezra. Your girl isn't going anywhere."

"I know," Ezra said. "I had to try one last time, though. Everything in me is telling me to have Wes drag you out of here kicking and screaming. But I know you'll never forgive me if I do that."

"No, I won't," I agreed. "Now is not the time for you to start treating me like a seventeen-year-old. Elijah stole whatever shred of childhood I had left from me, and I need to be here to see him lose."

Ezra pulled me into his arms and kissed my head, and Wesley came to sit on my other side and put a hand on my shoulder. And that did it; I started crying. I tried to keep the tears back, but they kept coming. Neither one of them said anything. They just let me cry. Occasionally, I would feel a squeeze on my shoulder from Wesley or a kiss on my temple or forehead from Ezra, but they didn't try to console me with words. They knew there were no words for this.

I couldn't tell how much later it was when my phone buzzed. It was a text from Spencer. School was out, and Elijah was on his way back to the apartment. Theoretically. This was it. The moment of truth.

"School's out," I said, taking a deep breath. "He's headed back."

"I'm not telling you what to do, but this is your last chance," Ezra said.

"I'm staying," I told him.

"Okay, I just realized, none of us have anything to defend ourselves with," Wesley said, heading to the kitchen and grabbing a few knives, handing one to each of us and keeping one for himself.

"I really, really hope I don't have to use this," I sighed.

"If you do, go for his gut. It's going to be your best bet with the height difference," Ezra told me.

I nodded, trying to process what Ezra had just told me. This was too surreal, having him tell me how to inflict maximum harm to someone with a knife. Now I _really_ felt like I was going crazy.

"You know, Radley is starting to sound better and better," I said.

"It's too late for that now," Wesley sighed. "This is happening. Your only escape is to lock yourself in the bathroom, if you want to do that."

I chuckled tensely. "Nope. I'm not going anywhere."

A couple minutes later, we heard the key turn in the lock. Elijah was back. Ezra grabbed my hand and squeezed it as the door opened. Elijah's expression when he walked in to find us all there was one of pure shock. We'd definitely caught him off-guard.

"Elijah, how in the hell did you get out of that cellar?" Elijah asked, trying to put on his best Ezra impression.

Man, he was good. But the thing was, I was better. I knew his game now. And I could get him to drop this charade in about ten seconds.

"You actually think that's going to work, Elijah? Really?" Ezra said, letting go of my hand so he could pull me close against him.

"Aria, come on. You know me," Elijah said.

I looked Elijah right in the eyes. "Okay, if you're really Ezra and this man is the imposter, tell me what B26 is."

Ezra squeezed my upper arm; clearly he approved of my tactic.

"It's the security code for the cabin," Elijah said.

"Wrong answer," I told him. "Ezra set the security code as B26 because it means something to us. It's the jukebox number for our song. Jig's up, Elijah."

In an instant, the expression on Elijah's face changed completely. All of a sudden, he was cold and calculating. It chilled me to the bone. This was exactly what Ezra would have looked like if he was a serial killer. Elijah looked like he wanted to kill all three of us right then and there, slowly and painfully.

"When did you figure it out, Aria?" he asked me.

I turned to look at Ezra, and he gave me an encouraging nod. Well, as encouraging as it could be with how scared he looked.

"I knew something was wrong almost immediately," I said, turning back to face Elijah. "There were too many little things that were different. The way you treated me. The way you talked to me. The way you kissed me. The…" I froze, not wanting to say the next part out loud, and Ezra gave my arm another squeeze. He clearly knew what I was about to say. "The way you acted in bed. And I heard something coming from under the floor in the cabin. This past week, it got to be too much, and I knew that whatever was under the floor in the cabin was the key to figuring out what was going on. So on Friday night, after you were asleep, I went down there and I found Ezra. He asked me to keep playing dumb with you, because he wanted me to keep myself safe, so I did it. I did it for him. But while I was out at the store on Saturday, I called Wes to come get him as soon as you and I were gone.

"I do have to hand it to you, Elijah. You definitely did your research on me and my friends. How you managed to learn that I'm a vegetarian, I'll never understand. But the thing is, when it comes down to it, real love, something like what Ezra and I have, just can't be faked. Though I suppose I should thank you, because if it weren't for you, I might still be with Jake right now instead of with Ezra where I belong."

"Well, you're certainly brave, little girl," Elijah said. "Stupid, but brave. I didn't actually have any reason to really hurt you until now. I was going to let you get out of this unharmed until today. But now you've interfered in my plans. And I can't let that slide."

Ezra pulled me even closer against him, and Wesley sat up straighter on the couch, taking a defensive stance and trying to shield me as much as he could.

"Unharmed?" I challenged.

"Have I actually hurt you, Aria?" Elijah shot back.

"You raped me, Elijah," I said. "Maybe I didn't say no, but it was because I kept telling myself that my gut feeling was wrong. That you were actually Ezra. So, yes, you did hurt me. Whatever shred of childhood I might have had left after my experiences with A, you stole it from me."

"Ezra, you might want to tell your girl there that if she values her life, she'll keep her mouth shut from here on out," Elijah said in a voice that scared the hell out of me. He was so calm, but so threatening at the same time.

Ezra snorted quietly. "You clearly don't know anything about Aria if you think she's going to just sit back and take this quietly."

"And you clearly don't know anything about either of your brothers if you think that we're going to let you touch her again," Wesley added.

"Let me?" Elijah laughed coldly. " _Let_ me? I'd like to see you stop me, little brother."

Elijah walked over and dragged me to my feet by one of my arms before Wesley or Ezra could stop him. Unfortunately for him, he hadn't grabbed the arm that was attached to the hand with the knife in it. Almost as a reflex reaction, I brought the knife out and stabbed him in the stomach. It stopped him for a bit, and he did let me go, but about five seconds later, he tried to grab me from behind as I was heading to the bathroom to lock myself in. Tried, because I used the martial arts I'd learned from Jake to get out of his grip and immediately went for a throat jab and a knee to the groin. That stopped him just long enough for Wesley to stand up and position himself between me and his brother. Elijah came towards us again, clutching his stomach in pain, but still clearly just as deadly. And at that moment, Ezra seemed to find enough strength to stand up, and right before Elijah got to me and Wesley, Ezra walked up behind him and slit his throat. Elijah fell to the floor, choking on his own blood.

I didn't even have time to really process what had just happened, because not ten seconds later, Ezra dropped the knife he'd been holding and collapsed on the floor, too. I ran out from behind Wesley to check on him. And my worst fears were realized. Ezra was unconscious and unresponsive.


	8. Healing Process

**Aria**

I sat there crying and screaming Ezra's name over and over again, and Wesley came over and knelt next to me, rolling his brother over onto his back. He felt for a pulse and then put his hand right next to Ezra's nose and mouth.

"He's alive," Wesley told me. "There's a pulse, and he's still breathing."

"Why won't he wake up?" I sobbed, unwilling to move from my spot next to him.

"I don't know," he said, pulling out his phone. "I'm calling an ambulance."

For the first time, I looked next to us. Elijah was lying there dead in a pool of his own blood. This wasn't supposed to happen. This wasn't supposed to be how this ended. He was supposed to live out a long life behind bars, knowing that he had utterly failed in trying to destroy our lives. But I had no doubts about it. Ezra had saved my life, and maybe Wesley's, by killing Elijah.

"You need to get the police here too," I said through my tears. "There's also the matter of the dead man in Ezra's living room who looks exactly like him."

"I know." Wesley gave my shoulder a gentle squeeze.

I tried to calm myself and catch my breath. Ezra was alive for now, even though he was unresponsive. He was breathing and he had a pulse. I had to hold on to that. There was nothing else I could do right now. But I still couldn't make myself get up off the floor or let go of him. Paramedics arrived within five minutes, and Wesley had to pull me away from Ezra kicking and screaming.

"Aria, you need to let them do their job," he said quietly, catching me in a bear hug. "Let them try to save Ezra's life."

The paramedics got Ezra up onto a stretcher with an oxygen mask over his face and wheeled him out of the apartment. Detective Holbrook and Lieutenant Tanner walked in the door a minute later, along with the crime scene team. I couldn't deal with this right now. Not while I didn't know if the love of my life would ever wake up again.

"Can you two tell me what happened here?" Holbrook asked, walking up to me and Wesley.

"Do we have to do this now?" Wesley asked him. "That's my brother and Aria's boyfriend they just took out of here on a stretcher, and that's my other brother lying there on the floor."

"I'm sorry," Holbrook said. "I know this is hard, but yes, we do need to do this now."

I tried to calm my sobs so I could give a statement and get the hell out of here. All I wanted was to go to the hospital and wait for news about Ezra. But Wesley took a deep breath and spoke before I could.

"The man lying on the floor? His name is Elijah Fitzgerald. He's Ezra's identical twin brother, and since we were small children, he has done unimaginable things to make both Ezra's life and mine a living hell. When he was twelve, our parents had him committed to a mental hospital, but he was released on his and Ezra's eighteenth birthday. Since then, his goal in life has been to destroy Ezra's. Ezra ended up in this town and shortened his last name trying to keep Elijah from finding him. But Elijah did find him, and he spent months doing research on Ezra's life and everyone in it so that he could take Ezra prisoner and make him watch while he hurt everyone Ezra cared about. Ezra bought a cabin about an hour and a half north of here, and Elijah found that cabin and held Ezra there in a cellar under the floor with barely any food or water for about two and a half weeks before Aria found him there. Aria called me, and as soon as it was safe, I went and got Ezra out of the cellar. We all came here today to try to trap Elijah and call you guys to have him arrested. But before we could do that, he tried to kill Aria. Ezra used what little strength he had left and killed Elijah to stop him from killing Aria, and he passed out on the floor just seconds later."

"Miss Montgomery?" Holbrook asked. "Is that what happened?"

"Yes," I sobbed. "Elijah manipulated his way into a relationship with me, posing as Ezra. He knew how I felt about Ezra and used my feelings to manipulate me into doing pretty much whatever he wanted. He…he got me to break up with the guy I was seeing to be with him and got me into his bed by playing on my feelings for Ezra. I realized something wasn't right with the way he was acting, and when he took me out to the cabin Wesley just told you about, I heard something underneath the floor. Both times we went out there. So this past weekend, I waited until he was asleep and I went down to the cellar. I found Ezra there, and Ezra asked me to keep playing along with the ruse for my safety. He told me that Elijah would hurt me if he figured out that I knew he wasn't Ezra. So I did, but as soon as I had a chance, I got away and I called Wesley to come and break his brother out of the cellar. That happened on Sunday night. Last night, the three of us decided to come here today and trap Elijah so he couldn't leave, and then call you. But before we could make the call, Elijah tried to kill me. I stabbed him in the stomach with a knife I'd been holding just in case I needed it, but he kept coming for me and grabbed me from behind as I was trying to get to the bathroom to lock myself in. I got out of his hold, and Wesley tried to put himself between me and Elijah, but Elijah kept coming at us. If Ezra hadn't slit his throat, I would be dead right now."

"Well, that's good enough for me," he said. "Lieutenant Tanner?"

"Yes," she agreed. "We'll compare this man's fingerprints to the ones Mr. Fitz has on file as an educator, and if that checks out, we won't be charging Mr. Fitz with anything. We can rule this a justifiable homicide. I'm so sorry for you both."

"Thank you," Wesley said. "Is there anything else you need, or can Aria and I go to the hospital now?"

"No, that's all for now," Tanner said. "We'll let you know if we need anything else. Thank you."

"Come on, Aria," Wesley said quietly. "Let's get out of here."

Wesley and I walked outside to find my three best friends standing there waiting for me. As soon as they saw us come out, they ran up to me and caught me in a group hug.

"Aria," Spencer said. "Oh, my God. We saw them bring Ezra out on the stretcher and take him in the ambulance. What's going on? Is he alive?"

"I don't know," I sobbed, trying again to catch my breath. "I don't know. He killed Elijah to protect me and he passed out not even five seconds later. He had a pulse and he was breathing, but he wasn't waking up. I don't know what happened."

"Shh," Emily tried to soothe me. "Come on. Let us take you two to the hospital. Neither one of you should be driving right now."

"Let's go," Hanna said. "I'm driving."

We all walked to Hanna's car, and Wesley got in the front seat next to her. Spencer and Emily sat on either side of me in the backseat as Hanna made the short drive to the hospital. When we got there, Wesley went to try to get an update. So far, nothing. We didn't know anything.

Wesley gave me and my friends some time alone so I could talk to them and tell them what happened. Everything that happened. Every little detail of what I had been through since Halloween night. And they sat there and let me sob for hours. This had been the final straw. I could file being manipulated and raped and what Elijah had done to Ezra away in the back of my mind until everything was over. But Ezra passing out unconscious on the floor and being unresponsive? When I added that to everything else I was already repressing, I couldn't deal anymore.

"Oh, Aria," Spencer said when I was done. "I just…I don't even know what to say. I'm so sorry."

"There's nothing you can say," I sniffled. "I know everyone says it isn't the victim's fault, but I feel like this is. If I'd just been a little smarter, I would have figured this out sooner and I would never have let him get me into bed."

"Aria, stop it," Emily said. "It's _not_ your fault. This is nobody's fault but Elijah's. He made the choice to do this to Ezra and to you. He made the choice to manipulate you and play on your feelings for Ezra. That is _not_ your fault. The fact that you love Ezra and that was what you were thinking about is not your fault. I can guarantee you Ezra didn't blame you. Jesus. I can't even imagine what was going through his head while Elijah made him listen to and watch that. Poor guy. That had to be worse than starving to death."

"And I thought I had guy trouble," Hanna said. "Oh, my God. But Emily's right. You can't blame yourself for this, Aria."

I let out a little chuckle. That was Hanna, love her or hate her.

"Aria, it's going to take time for you to come to terms with this and really process it," Spencer told me. "And that's okay. But please try to hear what we're saying when we tell you that you can't blame yourself. You'll drive yourself crazy with the 'what ifs' and trying to figure out if you could have done something different. The fact is, you did something extraordinary. You were Ezra's hero when you got him out of there. And then he was yours when he stopped Elijah from killing you. You saved his life, and then he saved yours. And that's what people who love each other do. They save each other."

I smiled. That _was_ true.

I couldn't tell how much later it was when Wesley walked up to us. I knew it was dark outside and had been for a while.

"Aria," he said quietly. "He's awake. And he's asking for you."

I turned to look at my friends.

"Go on," Hanna said. "We're not going anywhere. We'll be here when you're done."

I got up and went with Wesley.

"What happened to him?" I asked, not sure if I wanted to know the answer.

"The doctors say he was severely malnourished and basically on death's door," Wesley said. "And Ezra told me himself that he had a feeling he was dying, but making sure you were safe was more important to him than saving himself. He literally used the last ounce of strength he had killing Elijah. If paramedics hadn't gotten him here when they did, he probably wouldn't have made it. He's going to be here for at least a week, probably two, just so the doctors can make sure he gets the nutrients he needs to survive. Right now he's got an IV and a feeding tube because his stomach won't be able to handle solid food for at least three or four days."

"And his ankle?"

"It's actually a little higher up than his ankle. His fibula is completely broken right above the joint. He'll be in a cast for at least four months. I'm going to stick around for a while to help out."

Something Wesley had said stood out to me. Ezra had had a feeling he was dying, but he was more concerned about making sure I was safe. How long had he had that feeling?

"When did he tell you that he had a feeling he was dying?" I asked.

He sighed. "After I checked us into the hotel the night I got him. I was pleading with him to let me take him to a hospital and he kept refusing. I finally asked him why, and that was when he told me. I'm so sorry, Aria. I wanted to tell you, but he made me swear not to say anything."

I wanted to be mad at him. I really did. I wanted to be mad at both of them. But I couldn't be mad at Wesley for honoring his brother's wishes. And Ezra? He was alive. How could I be mad at him when he was alive?

"He's such an idiot," I said, starting to cry again. "Why wouldn't he tell me? Why would he risk his life like that? And refuse to get medical attention?"

"I think love makes us all do crazy things," Wesley told me, stopping at the beginning of a hall. "And I've literally never met anyone who loved another person as much as Ezra loves you. Don't be too hard on him. He's right down there, fourth door on your left. You guys don't need an audience. I'll be out in the waiting room."

 **Ezra**

I heard Wesley and Aria talking down the hall, but I couldn't make out anything they were saying. She'd be in here soon, thank God. They had only let Wesley back at first, because he was family. He'd had to strong-arm the doctors into letting her back here since we weren't related. He'd done that even without my asking; he knew she was the only person I wanted to see right now. I knew I was going to have to deal with some wrath from her for risking my life the way I had, but I could handle that. She was safe and that was what mattered. I could deal with her anger, which I was sure would be short-lived, as a trade-off for that any day of the week.

I really hadn't planned on killing Elijah. But when he'd kept going after Aria, even after she'd stabbed him and fought her way out of his grasp, I'd realized there was no other way. He was going to keep trying to kill her unless someone killed him first. He wanted to see me suffer, and he was furious at her for playing him the way she had. I could tell he was mad that someone had outsmarted him, and the fact that it was a teenage girl just made it worse. So, while it wasn't the way I had wanted things to go, I had no regrets.

Speaking of Aria stabbing Elijah and fighting her way out of his grasp…God, was I proud of her. She had been so brave. Ever since she'd found me in that cellar. Not many people, let alone many seventeen-year-old girls, would have handled the impossible situation Aria had found herself in half as well as she did. Her experiences with A had put her in some pretty insane, and sometimes life-threatening, situations, but she'd never dealt with stakes this high before. But it was almost like it didn't even register with her. She'd just done what she had to do to save and protect me, just like she'd done what she had to do to protect the people she loved from A.

Aria walked in the room with tears in her eyes, and I could tell from looking at her face that she'd been crying for quite a while. Probably since I'd passed out on the floor, however long ago that had been. At least several hours.

"Ezra," she said, running up to me.

She hugged me gently, and I could tell she was trying not to disturb any of the many wires and tubes that were attached to me. I squeezed her as tight as I could and kissed the side of her head. I felt more tears wet my hospital gown.

"I told you not to scare me like that again," she sniffled.

I chuckled quietly. "I'd say I'm sorry, but I'm not. You're safe, and that's what matters to me more than anything else. Even my own life."

Aria pulled back to look at me.

"How could you be so stupid? How could you know you were dying and refuse to go to the hospital?"

I took a deep breath; this was the moment of truth.

"I honestly didn't know if they could help me," I told her. "I thought I was beyond help. And if I came in here and died while Elijah was still out there… I couldn't die knowing that you were still in danger, Aria. I'm sorry. I just couldn't do it."

She sighed and hugged me again. "I love you. And I honestly don't have the energy left to be mad at you. I'm just so exhausted and so relieved you're alive."

"I love you too," I told her, kissing her hair. "More than anything. And I'm glad you're too exhausted to be mad at me. Because there's something very important I need to tell you and I really don't want to say it while you're upset."

"What's that?" she asked, pulling back to look at me.

I reached out to put my hand on her cheek. "How proud I am of you."

Aria chuckled uncomfortably and looked down. I tilted her chin up so she would look at me.

"I'm serious," I said. "Do you know how brave you are? Not many people, let alone many teenage girls, would have handled the impossible situation you got thrown into half as well as you did. I honestly can't say for sure that I would have been able to do what you did if I'd been in your shoes."

"I'm not brave," she sniffled, pulling up a chair so she could sit down and taking my hand in both of hers. "I was completely terrified. My heart has been in my throat basically since Friday night. Well, except for last night. Last night was the only time since I found you down there that I actually felt safe."

"Being brave doesn't mean you don't feel fear," I told her. "It means you fight through the fear. If you weren't scared, you would be him."

"I did what I had to do. I didn't have a choice."

"Exactly. Face it, Aria. You're not going to win this argument."

She snorted quietly, but didn't say anything. We just sat (well, I laid) there in comfortable silence for a minute before I realized how I could get my point across to her. With a quote that I knew she knew. Because I'd taught it. I'd actually dedicated an entire day to this quote with her class last year. At the time, I hadn't had a clue how much Aria and her friends had needed that lesson. But something had told me to put emphasis on this particular quote, so I had.

"Can I be an English teacher for a second?" I asked.

Aria smiled for the first time since she'd been in this room.

"I don't think I could stop you from being an English teacher if I tried," she said, laughing a little. "It's who you are. What book are you going to quote?"

I chuckled and brought her hand up to my lips for a kiss. She certainly knew me well.

"Actually, one I believe you're quite familiar with," I told her. " _To Kill a Mockingbird._ 'I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand.'"

"'It's when you know you're licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what,'" she finished, and the smile got bigger. "I remember the day you taught that. I could have sworn you were reading my mind that day. Okay, you win."

Aria stood up halfway and kissed me. She tried to back off after a few seconds, treating me like I was made of glass, but that wasn't nearly enough. I pulled her back in.

Right then, in that moment, I had an epiphany. There was not a doubt in my mind that we belonged together. For the rest of our lives. I realized that I'd known it all along. From the moment I'd known I was in love with her, we had been a foregone conclusion. I'd been a little worried about what would happen when she went to college, but I wasn't now. Because, now that there was no one after me anymore, I could follow my heart rather than my survival instincts. And my heart told me that home was wherever she was. I could get a job as a high school teacher or college professor anywhere. And I did have some savings to get me through until I found another job. What mattered was that I was with her. As long as she wanted me in her life, which I hoped was for the rest of it, I would be there.

Thank God Wesley was going to be here for a little while until I was well enough that he felt comfortable leaving me alone, because I realized I would need his help with something. Picking out a ring. And getting to the store to purchase it, for that matter. I knew it was insane. Her parents would never approve. But, by the time she graduated, she would be eighteen. Which meant they couldn't say anything. It felt wrong asking her to marry me without asking her father, but I also didn't want to diminish her choice in the matter. And I wasn't going to rush the actual wedding. I just wanted her (and her family) to know that I was serious about us before we left Rosewood.

"Look, I know they're going to kick you out of here soon, but just promise me you're not going to spend tonight alone," I said when I broke the kiss a minute later. "I don't want you waking up alone if you have nightmares. I wish you could stay here, but I know the doctors will never go for it."

Aria smiled. "I'm sure one of my friends will let me stay over. If they all haven't planned on making a slumber party out of it already. They're still out in the waiting room waiting for me right now."

I smiled too. Those girls were pretty remarkable. They'd helped us today without a second thought, and I knew they cared about Aria almost as much as I did. The bond the four of them shared was something I'd never had with any of my friends. Really, the only people I'd ever had that kind of connection with were Aria and Wesley. I wondered how much she had told them.

"How much do they know about what happened?" I asked her.

"Everything," she told me. "I told them everything. I kind of had a mental breakdown when you passed out and I had to get it all out. They're the best friends in the entire world. They just let me cry and get it all out. Told me the same thing you did. And I'm starting to hear it, but it'll take a while for me to stop blaming myself."

Well, this was progress. At least a little bit of progress. I'd take it.

"I know," I said, stroking her cheek. "It's going to be a long process. And that's okay."

Just then, a nurse came in.

"I'm sorry, hon, but he really needs to rest," she said. "You can take a minute to say goodbye, but I do need to ask you to leave."

"I understand. I'll be out in a minute," Aria said, then turned back to me. "I'll be back tomorrow. Is it okay if I bring my friends for a little bit?"

"If they'll let them in, absolutely. I want to thank them for what they did," I told her.

"Okay, I'll see you tomorrow," she said, giving me another quick kiss. "I love you."

"I love you too," I said.

I had an ache in my chest that felt like my heart was physically breaking as I watched Aria walk out the door. I hadn't even realized watching someone leave a room could hurt so much.

 **Aria**

Two weeks later, Wesley and I had picked Ezra up from the hospital and we were trying to help him up the stairs to his apartment on his crutches. If I'd thought helping him up the stairs in a homemade splint was hard, this was ten times more so. He was like a three hundred pound gorilla with these stupid crutches.

"Okay, babe, I think I'm just going to get you a wheelchair," I told him when we made it up the first flight of stairs after an hour.

"And then do what to get him up the next flight of stairs?" Wesley chuckled. "Seriously, dude, your apartment could not be in a worse spot for someone with a broken ankle."

"Not to mention someone with almost no strength who's also on painkillers that make him loopy," I added.

"Yeah, yeah, rub it in, you two," Ezra panted, rolling his eyes as he leaned against the wall to rest. "Jeez, with friends like you, who needs enemies?"

"Keep that up and you'll be doing the next flight by yourself," Wesley said.

"Yeah, whatever," Ezra muttered, crutching his way up to the next flight of stairs. "Come on, let's just get this over with."

"Wait a minute," I said. "I have an idea. Ezra, give me your crutches."

"What?" he said, looking at me like I had three heads.

"What are you thinking, Aria?" Wesley asked.

"We just do what we did when he was in the splint," I explained. "He puts all his weight on you while he puts his good foot on each step, then I help keep him steady as he gets his bad foot up."

"Ezra?" Wesley asked. "What do you think?"

"It's worth a shot," he sighed. "Clearly hopping up the stairs on these crutches isn't going so well."

"No joke," I said. "Next time you have a doctor's appointment, I'm calling Toby to come help us. Now, give me your crutches and lean on Wes for a minute so I can put them at the top of the stairs for you."

Ezra handed me his crutches and gave me a quick kiss before I ran up the stairs to set the crutches against the wall and put down the three bags I was carrying. Then I went back down. And this went much faster than him hopping on the crutches had. Now that he was on prescription painkillers and his broken leg was supported by about five pounds of plaster, he wasn't in excruciating pain as we did this. It only took fifteen minutes for us to get him up the second flight of stairs and he wasn't out of breath at the end of it.

When we got into the apartment, Wesley helped Ezra get situated in bed and I started getting out all of the stuff the hospital had sent home with him. He was still on a few different medicines and some vitamin supplements to ensure he was getting all the necessary nutrients. He'd probably have to take at least a couple of different pills for the rest of his life because of all of this. But that was a small price to pay, as long as he was alive and well.

"Okay, do you need anything else, Ezra?" Wesley asked.

"No, not right now," he sighed. "God, I hate being so dependent."

"All right, then. I'll see you guys tomorrow," he said, turning to leave.

"Bye, Wes," I said as he shut the door behind him.

Ezra looked confused; I chuckled.

"I'm playing nurse tonight," I told him. "Wes got a hotel room so we could have some time to ourselves. As long as you're okay with that. I can always get him back here if you prefer starting the uncomfortable living situation you're going to be in for the next couple of months a night early."

The confused expression turned into a huge grin.

"I am more than okay with that," he said. "Which of your friends is your alibi this evening?"

"Actually, my mom. I told her I was bringing you home from the hospital and that Wes and I were going to take turns staying here so we could help you out for a little while. And because you're an invalid right now, she was fine with it. On nights I'm here, we're just going to tell my dad I'm with her. She's agreed to do conference calls with my dad to make it seem like I'm there."

"Who is that woman and what has she done with Ella Montgomery?" Ezra chuckled.

I laughed and got into bed next to him. "I'm not looking a gift horse in the mouth."

"Probably smart," he said, pulling me in for a kiss.

Twenty minutes later, Ezra and I were still going at it, and he pulled me over on top of him so he didn't have to twist in an awkward position anymore. He'd been almost too careful not to let his hands wander anywhere that might make me uncomfortable, and he avoided direct skin-on-skin contact. I could tell he was worried about triggering any unpleasant memories.

But those memories were the last thing on my mind right now. Almost losing Ezra had thrown me for a loop, and the only thing I cared about right now was that he was here with me. Not quite in one piece yet and a little worse for the wear, but he was alive. And, finally, he was back home where he belonged.

"I love you, Aria" he whispered when I stopped for a second to catch my breath.

I smiled; I would never get tired of hearing him say that. Even after all this time, sometimes it still boggled my mind. In theory, we were absolutely wrong. But theory wasn't everything. Because the reality was that we couldn't have been more right. We belonged together, and though plenty of things had threatened to tear us apart and some had almost succeeded, we were still here.

"I love you too," I told him, and bent down to kiss him again.

I was shocked and a little nervous when the urge to take this further came over me. Not that we'd had much opportunity, but even during the one time that we had, I'd been too scared to do anything other than kiss him since…well, since everything. I wasn't sure if today was the time for this, though. I wasn't sure if he was up for it. I'd let him be the first to make a move. He would eventually, if this went on long enough and he wanted more.

Just as that thought came to my mind, Ezra reached his hand up the back of my shirt. It must have been subconscious, because he froze and immediately pulled it out.

"Hey," I whispered. "It's okay. Go ahead."

He looked me right in the eyes, putting a hand on my cheek so I wouldn't look away.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes," I told him. "I'm sure."

"Okay," he said. "If you change your mind, no matter when it is, just say the word."

"I will," I promised. "Are you sure you're up for this?"

"I'm good," he assured me. "They gave me the good drugs, remember?"

We both chuckled, and he pulled me back down for another kiss before going to take my shirt off. Then he sat up and scooted backwards so he could lean against the wall, pulling me with him and bringing his lips back to mine. I gasped a little as he undid my bra, and he pulled back for a second.

"Still okay?" he asked, kissing the tip of my nose.

I nodded and kissed him again as he slowly pulled my bra down my arms and dropped it on the floor, and then I pulled his t-shirt off. For a second, I froze. He was still so thin; I could see the outline of his ribs. He was much better than he had been, but still. It reminded me of what we had been through. It wasn't crippling and it didn't come accompanied by flashbacks, but it was there.

"What is it?" he asked. "Do you need to stop?"

"No, I'm still okay," I told him.

"You don't look okay. Talk to me, Aria. Tell me what's wrong."

I took a deep breath. It was scary sometimes how easily he could read my mind. It was one of the reasons I knew we were right together, but it did make it difficult to keep anything from him.

"You're still so thin," I said, barely louder than a whisper, unable to look away from the outline of his rib cage on his chest.

"Hey," he said softly, lifting my chin so I would look at his face. "I'm fine. I promise. I'm just worried about you."

"Don't be. I'm good. Really. The only person I'm thinking about right now is you."

He smiled and pulled me back in for another kiss. And as our activities progressed, I was overwhelmed by a feeling of absolute certainty. Not just about this, but about him. About us. Ezra and I belonged together, for the rest of our lives. I didn't know how that would work with me going to college, but we would figure it out when the time came. We still had a while. There was something about the way he was acting right now, too. It was different, but good different. There was more intensity, more passion. If anything, this was more right now than it ever had been. I couldn't explain it. But some things, like our relationship, just defied explanation.


	9. A Different Kind of Courage

**Aria**

I felt so awkward walking into Jake's studio a week later. Last night, Ezra and I had been talking and I'd told him that the thing I regretted most about everything that happened was what Elijah had manipulated me into doing to Jake. Not breaking up with him; that was all me, and I knew with absolute certainty that I'd made the right choice. But cheating on him? Spending all that time with Elijah while he was away? That was Elijah's doing. I knew that now. Maybe I'd said yes, but I wouldn't have even been put into the position to say yes or no if it hadn't been for Elijah's manipulation.

Ezra was the one to suggest that I come and talk to him today. Clear the air. He'd offered to come with me, but this was something I needed to do myself. Jake deserved to know why this had happened. He was a good person, and he had been a good boyfriend. He deserved to know that I wasn't the kind of person who gets back together with her ex behind her boyfriend's back while he's out of town. Not without being manipulated into it.

When I walked into the studio, Jake was sitting in a chair with his foot bandaged and wrapped. What had happened in the month since I'd seen him?

"Jake," I said nervously as I walked up to him.

He turned to look at me. "Aria. What are you doing here?"

"Look, I'm sorry to just show up like this, but I need to talk to you," I told him. "Something happened, and it's something that actually directly affected how you and I left things. It's hard for me to talk about it, but you deserve to know. Do you have a few minutes?"

"If you're going to tell me more about what a great guy your on-again, off-again boyfriend is, I don't want to hear it. I may never compete again thanks to him," Jake spat.

"What are you talking about? What happened to you?"

"Someone put a bunch of knives and razor blades in my punching bag. The one I've had since I was fifteen. I kicked it and I tore a couple of tendons in my foot. Didn't take a genius to figure out who it was. It was Ezra."

God, Elijah had been a sadistic son of a bitch. Why would he do that? Why would he try to hurt Jake? Especially after I'd already broken up with him? Why would he involve Jake at all after he'd gotten what he wanted from me? He had nothing to do with Ezra. I couldn't help the tears that welled up in my eyes.

"God, Jake, I'm so sorry," I told him. "But that's actually part of what I came to tell you. It wasn't Ezra. None of what happened while you were away was actually Ezra. The guy you saw going off on the woman outside the Grille wasn't him either."

"Then who was it?" he scoffed. "Ezra Fitz's evil twin?"

I took a deep breath. "Actually, yes."

"Wait, that was sarcastic. Ezra actually has an evil twin?"

"It's kind of a long story," I said. "But yes. Look, can I sit down?"

He sighed; he clearly didn't want to talk about this. But I also knew that he wasn't cruel and he didn't hate me. If I wanted to talk, I knew he would listen.

"Yeah, sure," he said, taking his bad foot off of the chair he had it on.

I sat down and took another deep breath. Then I told him what happened. Even the part where Elijah had manipulated me into cheating on him. I knew he wouldn't be thrilled about that, but he deserved to know. I told him how I'd found Ezra in the cellar and what I'd had to do after that, about calling Wes to get Ezra and how we trapped Elijah and Ezra killed him to save my life. Then about how Ezra had almost died because he cared more about getting Elijah out of my life than about saving his own life.

"Wow," Jake said when I was done.

"Yeah," I sniffled. By this time, I was crying.

Jake was silent for about a minute before I couldn't take it anymore.

"Jake, say something, please," I said.

"What do you want me to say, Aria?" he asked me. "That because you thought this guy was Ezra, all of a sudden it's okay that you slept with him behind my back? I mean, I get where you're coming from, I do, but I'm just having a hard time getting past the fact that _you still said yes._ He didn't actually force you to do anything."

Just like that, with three sentences from my ex-boyfriend, a lot of the progress I'd made with not blaming myself was completely reversed. And the thing was, he wasn't entirely wrong. I still knew I'd been raped. I'd been manipulated and deceived into a man's bed because he made me believe he was someone else. But what Jake was saying? That was what I'd had a hard time coming to terms with in the first place. I'd still made choices too. I hadn't said no. I'd had a boyfriend, and I hadn't said no. Regardless of who it was that I'd slept with and whether or not I'd thought it was someone else, I'd still cheated on Jake.

"I know that, Jake," I told him. "I've been beating myself up for weeks over that. The thing is, though, I was manipulated into it by someone who wanted to hurt me. Someone who wanted to hurt everyone in this town just so he could hurt Ezra. I would never have been put into that position if it hadn't been for that."

He sighed. "I feel bad about what happened to you, and to Ezra. I really do. I am glad that you're both alive. I do still care about you, Aria. And I appreciate you telling me that the person you're with now isn't some violent psycho and that he's not the one who put those knives in my punching bag. But can you honestly tell me that you didn't just say yes because you thought Elijah was Ezra? Forget manipulation. Forget deception. You still made a choice."

"You're right; I did. But you also need to know that the real Ezra, the man that I actually broke up with you to be with, would never have put me in that position. It doesn't excuse the choice I made to cheat on you, but I just can't stand you thinking the worst of Ezra. I can't stand you thinking that he would ever put me in that position."

"I appreciate that," Jake said. "Something else that's killing me? Everything you did to save Ezra? It was incredibly brave and selfless, and I'm not discounting that. I just can't help thinking that you wouldn't have gone to that much trouble to save me if I'd been the one you found starving to death in a cellar in the middle of the woods."

"Of course I would have, Jake," I said. "I would have done that for anyone I care about. Yes, Ezra is the man I'm in love with, but he's not the only one I would have gone to those lengths for. I don't just abandon the people I care about, and I do care about you."

He chuckled tensely. "Well, I'm glad to know you care, and that you're beating yourself up about hurting me. But I'm going to need a while before we see each other again. I hope you understand."

"I do understand. I didn't plan on coming back after today. I just wanted to be honest with you, to clear the air. Actually, Ezra is the one who suggested that I come here. He offered to come with me, because I was almost too nervous to do it."

"If he wasn't in a cast in a three-story walk-up apartment, would he be here right now too and making this even more awkward?" Jake asked.

I chuckled tensely. "No. I told him that this was something I needed to do on my own."

He sighed. "Look, I do appreciate you coming to talk to me, Aria, but you should probably go now."

"Okay," I told him. "But there was one more thing I wanted to tell you. Probably the most important thing. I really should have led with this, and I'd planned on it before you told me what Elijah did with your punching bag. You saved my life, Jake."

"I did what?" he asked.

"You heard me. You saved my life."

"How did I do that?"

"After I stabbed him and tried to run away, Elijah grabbed me from behind before Ezra or Wesley could do anything about it. And if it hadn't been for the martial arts I learned from you, I wouldn't have been able to get out of it. But thanks to you, I did. I got out of his grip and I was even able to slow him down a little. Just long enough for Wesley to put himself between me and Elijah, but still. If it wasn't for you, I might not be standing here breaking your heart even more than it already was right now."

Jake gasped quietly.

"What? Never actually heard a success story before?" I asked.

"Not like that one," he admitted. "I'm impressed. And, as your former instructor, I have to tell you that I'm really proud of you. I'm sure Ezra was too, and Wesley."

I smiled, remembering the glow on Ezra's face, him telling me how proud he was and how brave I was, when he'd seen me that night in the hospital. His smile had lit up the whole room.

"They were," I told him. "But hearing that from you means a lot, especially after everything else I just told you today. Thank you. I just wanted you to know that what you're doing here does make a difference. If you're ever in doubt about it, just remember that you saved a girl's life with what you taught her."

I couldn't believe my eyes, but I actually saw a genuine smile on Jake's face when I said that. I definitely hadn't been expecting that.

"Thank you, Aria," he said. "Really. That means a lot to me. Um, I can't believe I'm saying this after I just told you that I'm going to need a while before we see each other again, but I actually just started a self-defense class for beginners. If you'd be willing, I would love for you to come and talk to them. Tell them that this stuff actually works."

Talk about unexpected. I was floored. I couldn't believe he'd just said that.

"I would be honored. And don't worry, I know it's for their benefit, not yours."

He chuckled a little.

"Um, look, I actually do have to get going," I told him. "Ezra has a doctor's appointment in a couple of hours, and with how well he's moving around on his crutches, it's going to take his brother and I about that long just to get him down the stairs of his apartment building."

We both laughed.

"That bad, huh?" Jake asked.

"Pretty much," I giggled. "I swear, I think a chimpanzee from the zoo would be more graceful on those things. He's still recovering from the malnutrition too and he has barely any strength at all, so it's hard for him to support himself. But he's so stubborn, he refuses to use a wheelchair or one of those scooter things for people with broken legs."

"Do you, uh, need an extra set of hands?"

"Really?"

"Sure, why not?" he said. "I'm not doing anything else this afternoon."

"What about the part where you didn't want to see me again for a good long while?"

"That was before you told me that what I taught you saved your life," he told me. "I'm honestly just glad you're standing here in front of me now."

"You're not going to be too hard on Ezra, are you? Between his broken leg and your bum foot, I don't think either one of you is in any kind of shape for a fight."

He chuckled. "Nah, I'll wait until he's recovered for that. You know me. I want a fair fight."

About twenty minutes later, I was walking into the apartment.

"Hey, Aria," Wesley said. "I was starting to think you'd forgotten about Ezra's appointment. We'll probably be late now. We only have an hour and a half to get him there."

"Very funny, Wes," Ezra muttered from the couch.

"Hey, babe," I said, going up to give Ezra a kiss.

He pulled me down onto his lap and kissed me again, more than just a little peck this time.

"Um, yeah, this isn't going to help you get down the stairs," I said. "But I actually brought something that will. Well, someone."

"Did you?" he asked. "Who?"

"Come on in, Jake," I called.

Jake walked in, looking the most awkward I'd ever seen him. I had to laugh.

"Jake, Wesley. Wesley, Jake," I said.

"Hey, man," Jake said, shaking Wesley's hand and then turning to Ezra. "Ezra."

"Hi, Jake," Ezra said, sounding confused.

I chuckled. "I may have mentioned that you had a doctor's appointment today, and Jake offered to help us get you down the stairs. I'm about 93% sure he's not going to let you fall and break your other leg, so I accepted the help gratefully. Face it, a gorilla would be more graceful on crutches than you are."

"Gee, thanks," Ezra teased, kissing my cheek. "Thank you, Jake. I really appreciate it."

"No problem," he said. "Should we get going?"

"Yeah," I said, getting up off of Ezra's lap. "Let's go."

Jake cut our time in half. And he even gave Ezra some pointers for how to use the crutches a little better so it wasn't putting so much pressure on his upper body. I was impressed. I wasn't expecting him and Ezra to become best buddies any time soon or anything, but the fact that they were actually getting along without trading insults was progress. As soon as we got Ezra to Wesley's car, Jake told me he'd text me with the details on his new self-defense class so I could figure out a time to come and talk to them. Then he left, and I got in the backseat with Ezra.

"So I take it your talk went well?" he asked, pulling me close next to him.

"Relatively," I told him. "That bandage on his foot? Elijah put a bunch of knives and razor blades in his punching bag and he kicked it. Tore a couple of tendons in his foot, and he may never compete again."

"Jesus," he sighed. "So how did he take what you told him about Elijah? What Elijah did to you and to him?"

"About how I expected. The thing he was upset with me for is the thing I was beating myself up for even before I knew about Elijah. The fact that I cheated on him. That's not me, and I still can't believe I did it, no matter how good Elijah was at head games."

"But if Elijah hadn't put you in that position, it wouldn't have happened," he reminded me.

"I know," I sighed. "I still don't feel great about it, though. I _was_ put into the position, and regardless of who he was and how good he was at head games, I still said yes. While I had a boyfriend. I feel like I don't deserve to be with anyone at all if I have that little self-control."

"I happen to like your lack of self-control," Ezra teased as he kissed my hair, clearly trying to get my mind off it.

I chuckled. "Yeah, well, it hasn't worked out so well for other people. But…the thing that I had planned on opening with, I ended up closing with, and that kind of made him forgive me a little, though I'm sure he's still hurt."

"What was that?"

"The fact that the martial arts he taught me probably saved my life. He told me he was really proud of me and actually asked me to come and talk to a new self-defense class he just started teaching."

"That's amazing," he said, turning my chin so I would look at him. "See, I'm not the only one who's proud. I know I'm a little biased, but still."

"Yeah, you're just a little biased. But that's okay. I want to make you proud."

"You do," Ezra told me, and kissed me. "Every day."

As soon as we got back from the doctor (where we got a good report—Ezra's stomach was on the mend, thank God), Wesley left for New York for a few days. He had to work things out with his college professors so they would let him complete his assignments remotely while he was here taking care of Ezra. So I was staying at the apartment while he was gone. I was in the bathroom and I went to change the toilet paper roll when I found…something else. Something that scared the hell out of me.

I'd left a box of tampons here, just basically preparing for any eventuality while I was staying here off and on. And I realized when I saw it sitting there that I'd skipped my period. I was supposed to start it the day that Ezra had come home from the hospital.

I didn't even have to do any math. If Ezra was about to be a father, it would be too soon to tell since the first time we'd slept together since we got back together was about a week ago. And I'd never slept with Jake. So that left only one person. Elijah.

How in the hell had this happened? I was on the pill. I was careful. I did all of the other little things one was supposed to do to avoid pregnancy after sex. Pee within half an hour afterwards, all that jazz. Maybe that was an old wives' tale, but it couldn't hurt, right?

The other thing that was killing me was that what Jake had said to me today was still on my mind. Elijah hadn't forced me into anything. I'd still made a choice. Maybe I'd made the choice under false pretenses, but it was still my choice. So if this wasn't just all the stress I'd been under this month manifesting itself, if I actually was pregnant, it was no one's fault but my own.

I could only imagine what my face looked like when I walked out of the bathroom. Ezra immediately sat up straighter in bed, and I could tell he would have run over to me if he could have.

"Aria, come here," he said. "I'd be the one coming to you, but since I'm in a cast..."

He didn't have to ask me twice. I went over and crawled into bed next to him, snuggling close and resting my head on his chest. He kissed my hair and then pulled back and tilted my chin up so I would look at him.

"You look like you saw a ghost in the bathroom just now," he said. "And I'm pretty sure it's not _that_ frightening in there since you've been the one cleaning it. What is it?"

I took a deep breath. I couldn't keep this from him. And, really, I didn't want to. I needed to talk to someone and I knew he would be supportive and wouldn't judge me.

"I'm late," I said.

Ezra just tightened his arms around me, kissed my forehead, and was silent for a minute.

"How late?" he asked.

"I was supposed to start the day you came home from the hospital. But there was so much else going on that I didn't think about it until I saw the tampons I'd left here just now."

"There's more, isn't there?"

"Yeah, there is. Since it would be way too early to tell if you were about to be a father, there's only one person it could be."

"Elijah," he sighed.

"Yep."

"If he wasn't dead, I'd kill him."

I chuckled a little. "I feel like bringing him back just so I can kill him again. But the thing is, Jake was partly right today. I made a choice. Maybe I slept with him under false pretenses, but he didn't force me. So if this isn't just stress, if I really am pregnant, it's no one's fault but my own."

"Stop it, Aria," Ezra scolded. "Yes, maybe you made a choice, but so did Elijah. Do you know what choice he made? He made the choice to manipulate you and get you go to bed with him willingly. I can almost guarantee you that if that hadn't worked, he _would_ have forced you. Frankly, I'm glad we never had to find out. There's enough going through your head right now as it is. Don't make it worse by beating yourself up. And you've been under a lot of stress this month. That could be all this is. I hate to point out the obvious, but there's only one way to be sure."

I sighed; he was right. And that meant a trip to the pharmacy for a couple of pregnancy tests. Yes, a couple. I was that anal and paranoid. I had to be one hundred percent sure. I needed at least two tests to give me the same result if I was going to be satisfied.

"God, I'm not looking forward to the looks I'm about to get when I go to the pharmacy," I said.

"Do you want me to come?" he asked. "I mean, it'll take three times as long at least, but if you don't want to be alone, I will happily go with you."

I smiled. I loved Ezra so much. He really would do absolutely anything for me. He wasn't going to let me do this alone, no matter what happened. But I did have to do this part alone. He was still a teacher at Rosewood High. I was still in his class, and if all went well, he was going back to work in a couple of weeks. Whether we were past hiding our relationship or not, this was one situation where we couldn't be seen together.

"No," I told him. "You _are_ still my English teacher. And you're going back to work soon. Whether or not people know we're together, you can't be seen with me while I'm buying pregnancy tests."

"Tests? Plural?"

"Yes. I'm that anal. I want more than one test to say the same thing," I said. "I'd say not to go anywhere while I'm gone, but..."

"Don't worry, I'm not moving from this spot."

I sighed and unwillingly left the safety and comfort of Ezra's arms. As I was sitting on the bed putting my shoes on, he suddenly pulled me back towards him.

"Hey," he said softly. "There's one very important thing I didn't say yet."

I had a feeling I knew what it was going to be, but he was right. I did need to hear it.

"What's that?"

"I love you," he said, putting his hand on my face. "And no matter what the test says, we'll figure it out. Together."

I smiled and kissed him. He always knew exactly what to say. Even in the middle of the utter insanity of the last ten minutes.

"I love you too," I told him. "I'll be back soon."

I was back in half an hour, but I couldn't make myself actually go and take the tests. I was too scared of what they would say.

What in the hell was I going to do if I was pregnant? I didn't believe in abortion as a form of birth control. And because the act that had brought me to this place had at least partially been my choice, I couldn't justify it. But I was still in high school. This would completely screw up my plans of going to college. My parents would be so disappointed, and my dad might very well disown me. Plus, I was involved with a teacher and everyone knew and just ignored it. Whether or not this was his kid, people would certainly think it was. It would even come out looking like his. That would ruin what reputation he'd managed to build back up. And me? Well, I'd be a pariah in this town. The slutty high schooler who had slept with her teacher and gotten herself knocked up. Maybe everyone just swept us under the rug, but no one particularly approved of us. They never had. After this? We'd be outcasts. Ezra and I might as well just exile ourselves to Siberia if I was pregnant.

"Aria," Ezra's voice brought me back from my thoughts.

I pulled back from his chest so I could look at him, not saying anything.

"Look, I know you're scared, but you're not doing yourself any favors putting off the inevitable. Just go and take the test. I'm right here, and no matter what, we'll deal. Okay?"

God, he sounded so calm. How could he do that?

I took a deep breath and went into the bathroom and peed on the sticks. Both of them. I knew it was stupid. These tests were 99% accurate. But I just had to be sure. I put them in one of the boxes and set a timer for five minutes on my cell phone, then went back and sat on the bed next to Ezra. He pulled me close and kissed my forehead. And, together, we waited. I'd never realized how long five minutes could feel. It seemed like an eternity later when the timer went off. My heart was in my throat and my hands were shaking as I sat up and pulled the tests back out of the box.

I was afraid to look. I almost didn't want to know. I sat there holding them without looking, just staring off into space.

"Hey," Ezra said quietly after a minute or so. "Are you actually going to look at some point?"

I knew he'd already looked. I wanted to tell him to just tell me, but I knew he wouldn't. This required an altogether different kind of bravery than fighting Elijah had. In a way, this terrified me even more. I was sure he knew that too, but he also knew I had it in me. And he was trying to get me to realize it for myself.

I took a deep breath; this was it. The moment of truth. My life could be about to change. Then I swallowed my fear and looked down. And there was only one line on each of the sticks. The control line. The tests were negative. Both of them. I wasn't pregnant.

Completely overwhelmed with relief, which was such a contrast from the emotions I'd been feeling for the past hour and a half, I just started crying. I couldn't form words. Ezra pulled me into his lap and kissed my temple. He just sat there rubbing my back and let me get it out.

"Shh," he whispered. "It's okay. You're okay. I've got you. You're okay."

It took about half an hour for me to stop crying. That was something I hoped I never had to do again. Not until I was ready for there to be a second line on the stick. Which wouldn't be for a while.

I looked over at the clock, and it was getting kind of late. I had to start making dinner. I wasn't even remotely hungry, and I was sure Ezra wasn't either, but he was on strict orders from the doctor to eat three well-balanced meals a day, plus a few snacks throughout the day. And as long as I had anything to say about it, he was going to follow his doctor's orders to the letter.

"Well, that was fun," I said, breaking the silence we'd been lying here in ever since I'd looked at the tests. "Let's not do it again."

Ezra chuckled and kissed my hair. "No?"

"No."

"Damn. And here I was hoping for a repeat next month."

I couldn't help myself; I laughed. Which I was sure was his goal.

"God, I hope not," I said, sitting up. "Though at least I'd be happier about the potential father. I'm going to go start dinner, okay?"

"You know, I'm pretty sure it wouldn't kill me if you just ordered a pizza," he said. "I'd say you've earned a break from playing nurse tonight."

"Nice try," I scoffed. "First, I'm not about to let the acid from pizza sauce eat a hole in your stomach. Second, taking care of you is not a chore. You're alive and well. I'll take having to help you out a little bit and cook you nutritious meals as a trade-off for that any day."

Ezra pulled me back down next to him. "I love you. But you worry about me too much. I'm fine. The only thing that's less than stellar about my condition right now is the fact that I'm still in a cast for another three months."

I pulled him in for a kiss that he had to break. Words couldn't express how grateful I was that he was here. I honestly didn't know if I could have dealt with this pregnancy scare if it hadn't been for him. I didn't know what I would have done. He'd been so strong. Strong enough for the both of us.

"Maybe I do worry too much, but I'm still cooking dinner," I told him.

He chuckled. "Okay."

Suddenly, I realized I hadn't actually said anything to him about how relieved I was that he had been here today.

"Hey," I said. "Thank you. For being here. For being strong enough for the both of us. I don't know what I would have done without you."

"Well, it's not like I really could have gone anywhere," he teased.

"Ezra, I'm serious," I said.

"I know. And I was just doing what you've done for me every day since you found me at the cabin. I don't know what I would have done these past few weeks without you, either. I probably would have died down there. And even if I hadn't, if I'd somehow gotten out, if it hadn't been for you, I wouldn't have been able to cope. You've been strong enough for the both of us through everything Elijah threw at us. Today it was my turn."

"I have mentioned that I love you, right?" I said, wiping a few tears from my eyes.

He laughed a little and kissed me again. "Yes. But I'll never get tired of hearing it. And I love you too."

I laid there for another minute before sitting back up. Just as I was about to get out of bed, Ezra grabbed my arm again. He didn't try to pull me back down, but he clearly had something else to say still. I turned around to look at him. And melted into a big puddle when I saw how he was looking at me. He was very obviously concerned, but he was also proud of how I'd handled the hand I'd been dealt today. I'd been terrified (hell, I was _still_ a little shaken), but I'd done what I had to do. I'd acted responsibly and I'd trusted him enough to let him help me. I got all that from just one look. I'd gotten pretty good at reading his mind too.

"Aria, tell me the truth," he said. "Are you okay?"

I sighed. "No. Not completely."

"Is there anything I can do?"

I had to smile; I was the luckiest girl on the planet.

"No," I told him. "I just need time to process this. Honestly, my head almost exploded when I was thinking about what in the hell I would have done if I had been pregnant."

"What would you have done?"

"I don't know. I'm not a fan of abortion. But the thing is, it wouldn't just have been my reputation on the line. It would have been yours too. Everyone sweeps it under the rug, but they know about us. The whole town would have assumed it was yours. When it was born, it would have even looked like it was yours, because it would have been your dead evil twin brother's. So, really, I probably wouldn't have had a choice. Unless we both wanted to exile ourselves to Siberia."

"Well, if I'm exiling myself, I'm going somewhere warmer. Maybe Mexico?" he teased, dragging himself to the edge of the bed to sit next to me.

I chuckled. "What about the Bahamas or Jamaica? As long as we're going someplace warm, we can at least make it exciting."

"Mexico _is_ exciting. Mayan ruins, beaches, margaritas…"

I laughed. "Margaritas? Have you forgotten that in this scenario, I wouldn't be able to have alcohol? Seriously, though, it just kind of made me think. Even after the tests came back negative. We're careful, but nothing is foolproof. I'm not saying I want to go backwards, but—"

"But nothing," he cut me off. "This made me do some thinking too. And I came to a conclusion. I'm not going backwards, Aria. I'm done hiding. I'm obviously not going to flaunt our relationship while you're still my student, but I'm not going to let anyone tell me the way I feel about you is wrong. Because if this past month has shown me anything, it's that there is nothing more right than what we have together. You're the one I want to spend my life with, and I'm making that choice knowing everything that comes with it. Knowing what it means for me if something like an unplanned pregnancy happens. Knowing—"

I cut Ezra off with a kiss. What he'd just said? It was bordering on insanity. And what he'd said a few minutes ago? He hadn't even given leaving town with me if I'd been pregnant a second thought. He'd just made a joke about where we would go. Again, insanity.

"You're crazy," I told him, only backing up an inch at the most. "You know that, right?"

"Maybe. Or maybe I'm just in love," he said, bringing his lips back to mine.

I chuckled. "The two aren't mutually exclusive. I would know. I only fell in love with one of my teachers. If that's not crazy, I don't know what is."

"And to this day, I still have no idea why. But I'm glad you did. Because I honestly cannot imagine my life without you."

"I can't imagine my life without you either," I told him, giving him one more kiss. "Now, I actually mean it this time. You're going to let me get off of this bed, and I'm going to start making dinner."

"Are you okay now?" he asked, looking me straight in the eyes.

"Yeah, I am," I said truthfully. "But I am going to play the sympathy card and pick the movie tonight."

Ezra kissed the tip of my nose. "Deal."


	10. Epilogue: New Beginnings

_**Five Months Later**_

 **Ezra**

I walked out of the high school and into the hot Georgia sun, feeling like I was on top of the world. Pending a licensing exam, which I would have to come back for in a month, I had a job teaching 11th grade English lined up for the fall. And I was signing the lease and picking up the keys for my apartment here in Savannah this afternoon. No sense staying in a hotel while I was making trips back and forth.

Seeing this historic town, there wasn't a doubt in my mind that Aria would love it here. She'd be in a photographer's heaven. She had no idea yet that I'd be here with her though. What had started as me not wanting to say anything until I knew for sure if this would work had turned into the world's most elaborate surprise. Not quite a graduation gift, since I'd gotten her one of those too (which actually kind of tied into all of this), but close. I planned on telling her this weekend. I could tell that she'd been afraid to bring up what would happen to us when she left Rosewood. She'd almost been sad when she told me she had decided to come here for school. I'd actually been glad she had decided to go so far away. It felt like the fresh start we both sorely needed. Too much had happened to us in Rosewood. We both needed to get away and heal. And we would do it together.

Well, together for the most part. We would at least be in the same city. I'd been torn about asking her if she wanted to move in with me, but decided against it. At least for a year. Thanks to me, she hadn't had a normal high school experience. She was going to get a normal college experience, complete with living in the dorms and hating her neighbors and roommates. I was going to make sure of it. Though how being engaged at eighteen (hopefully) factored into that, I wasn't quite sure. Okay, so I was making this up as I went along. But it made sense to me, sort of.

Aria was the only person who didn't know about any of this. I had even worked up the nerve to ask her parents what they thought of it. Her father...well, he hadn't punched me in the jaw. That was progress. And he'd also pointed out that he couldn't stop me. Her mother had been a little more receptive and had even been a little enthusiastic, once I'd assured her that Aria wasn't pregnant (of course that would be their first thought). She'd actually been glad Aria would have someone here who loved and supported her.

I'd told Aria I was in New York this week for a family thing. I hated lying to her, but it was for a good cause. I hoped. I hoped she wouldn't be too upset when she found out I'd done all of this behind her back. Wesley was even here with me to help me complete the illusion of being with family. And to help me get at least a bed and coffee pot and dresser set up in my apartment here. We were catching a flight back to Philadelphia in the morning to make sure we were back for the Rosewood High graduation in two days. I'd been drafted to hand out the diplomas and I was also speaking at the ceremony since I'd been voted Teacher of the Year, and of course Wesley wanted to be there for Aria. People don't go through something like what the two of them had gone through together and not develop a bond, and they were no exception. They were thick as thieves now.

I pulled out my phone and dialed Wesley's number. He had the rental car, so I was stuck here with the students and faculty giving me strange looks until he picked me up.

"So how'd it go?" he answered.

"I got the job. I'm coming back next month for a licensing exam," I told him.

"Congrats, man! So what are you more nervous about, the exam or popping the question?"

"Teaching is what I do. So what do you think?"

"I think you're borderline insane, but what else is new?" he teased. "I'll be there in ten minutes."

"Okay, I'll see you then," I chuckled.

I wasn't sure what this was, honestly. Maybe it was borderline insane. But I preferred to think of it as finally living. When I'd been on the run from Elijah, I'd been so focused on surviving that I hadn't really stopped to live. I hadn't had anything to live for. Not until I met Aria. Now, finally, I had something in my life that I couldn't stand to lose.

And I almost had lost her, a few months ago. When Charlotte had kidnapped her and her friends. I'd spent a heart-stopping three weeks working with Caleb, Toby, and Alison trying to find them. When we'd finally found them and she had come out of that bunker, it had just confirmed what I'd already known. I couldn't lose her again. Not ever.

Wesley pulled up in the rental car and I got in.

"So, ready to be paying rent in two places at the same time for a few months?" he teased.

"Well, I'm not going to lie, it's going to suck for my bank account, but I also don't want to have to do the thing where I move everything in one weekend. Especially not when I'm coming back here to take that exam and then making at least one other trip back and forth to help Aria move," I told him.

"If that makes sense in your warped mind, sure, I'll buy it."

"How about if you just drive, Wes?"

"Keep that up and I'll tell Aria where we really are next time you call her."

"You're an ass. Has anyone ever told you that?"

"All the time," he laughed.

Just then my phone buzzed, and it was a text from Aria.

 _Weird taking the final exam in your class without you there. Love and miss you._

I'd wished I could have come here next week so I could have administered my own final exam. But this was when the school had wanted to do my final interview, and while the other ones had been over Skype because I'd been in no shape to travel until recently and they also understood that I was still teaching in Pennsylvania, this one had to be in person. So I'd had a substitute teacher administer the test. It was on Scantron paper, so grading wouldn't be too difficult. Just feed the tests into the machine.

I typed a quick response to her.

 _I love and miss you too. More than you know. I'll be back before you know it._

"Aria?" Wesley asked.

"How'd you guess?" I chuckled.

"You've got it bad. Your entire demeanor changes when you're talking to her. Or even texting her."

"Remind me to give you a hard time when you get a girlfriend," I teased.

"What are brothers for? Someone has to give you a hard time. But seriously, I couldn't approve more. You guys are great together. And it's obvious she's crazy about you."

"I sure hope so. That would increase my chances of her saying yes this weekend."

"Ever think you might have put the cart before the horse, getting the job and apartment lined up before asking her?" he asked.

"No," I said. "If she's not ready to say yes, I'm okay with that. She is only eighteen. It's more symbolic at this point. I'm not going to rush actually getting married. Matter of fact, I'd rather wait until she's done with school. I just want her to know I'm serious about us. That I'm not just doing this on a whim."

All of a sudden, Wesley just started laughing.

"What?" I laughed with him.

"You do realize the entire town, and probably all of her friends, are going to think that you knocked her up, right?" he said, still laughing.

I flashed back to that horrific afternoon five months ago. How scared Aria had been. Hell, how scared I'd been. She'd been right. Even though there wasn't even a chance of that particular hypothetical kid being mine, everyone still would have thought it was. And it would have even looked like me. Basically, it would have been a disaster. I would have supported whatever decision she'd made, but I knew we were both relieved it hadn't come to that. There was almost no decision that could have been the right one in a situation like that.

"Dude, what is it?" Wesley brought me back from the flashback I was having. "I was joking."

I sighed; he didn't know. Neither one of us had ever told him.

"Sorry. That just hit a little close to home," I started.

"Wait. What do you mean?"

"Look, you are not allowed to tell her you know this. Got it?"

"My lips are sealed," he promised.

"About a week after I came home from the hospital, she actually did have a scare. She thought Elijah..."

"Jesus," he gasped. "I'm sure that was a fun day."

"Not so much. We were both completely terrified. And she was beating herself up, because that same day Jake had basically reversed most of the progress she'd made in coming to terms with what Elijah did. He couldn't get past the fact that she'd still made a choice. So, of course, that was what she was thinking about when she realized her period was a week late."

"If I'd known that, I would have kicked that little punk's ass instead of let him help you get down the stairs. Frankly, I don't really want to know what Elijah would have done if impersonating you hadn't worked."

"That was what I told her," I agreed. "I can guarantee it would have been a lot worse. But the worst part of the whole thing was that we both knew that if she was pregnant, the entire town would think it was mine. I cannot begin to describe the relief when there was only one line on that stupid plastic stick. Actually, both sticks. Because of course she had to take two different tests just to be absolutely sure."

He chuckled. "Sounds like her. But I can imagine the relief. Damn. She's been dealt a crap hand in life, hasn't she?"

"She has. So have I. Honestly, I think coming here is the fresh start we both need."

"Yeah, you're probably right. You both need to be somewhere where no one knows about your history. Savannah certainly gives you that," he agreed.

"Exactly," I said. "See, I'm not borderline insane. I'm thinking clearly for the first time in my life."

"Maybe. I'm still going with you being insane," Wesley teased. "So, do you know how you're going to pop the question yet?"

I chuckled. Finally, something I wanted to talk about.

"I think so, but I'm just going to roll with it. See how the whole conversation plays out. Is it too weird for me to take her to the cabin?" I asked.

"Have either of you been back there since…"

"No. We haven't. But the thing is, I'm selling it, so I need to make sure it's cleaned out and that I have everything I want out of it. I'm not sure I can go back there alone."

"Well, it's going to trigger some memories for sure. Are you sure that's the place for this conversation? Really?"

"Honestly?" I said. "I can't think of a better place for it. If it wasn't for what happened, I might not have realized that with her is where I need to be, no matter where that is."

"I guess that makes sense," Wesley said. "Nothing about your relationship is conventional. So why should a marriage proposal be?"

We both laughed. That was definitely true.

 **Aria**

I stood there nervously in my cap and gown, waiting to be ushered in to the auditorium. I wished I could see Ezra before the ceremony, but he'd been drafted to hand out the diplomas. How that had happened, I had no idea. Neither did he, but he'd agreed to do it. He was also speaking today, since to nobody's surprise he'd been selected as Teacher of the Year. So he was somewhere else entirely. And my friends and I were all spread out too, organized by our last names. The closest person to me was Hanna, but there were about ten people between me and her. I was all alone in a crowd of people.

I had my Magna Cum Laude rope around my neck, and under that, where no one could see at the moment, I was wearing Ezra's graduation gift. He'd given it to me last night, when he'd gotten back from New York. A necklace with a charm in the shape of a heart that had the words "Never doubt I love" inscribed on it. It came from one of my favorite Shakespeare quotes, from _Hamlet_. "Doubt thou the stars art fire. Doubt that the sun doth move. Doubt truth to be a liar. But never doubt I love." Sweet, thoughtful, and absolutely him. I wished I could let it show outside my gown, but I couldn't. He was still my teacher. For another few hours at least.

In a way, I was scared to be graduating. I was scared of the unknown. Scared of being in a new and strange place. Scared of moving so far away from my family and friends. And from Ezra. We hadn't even really talked about what would happen when I went to Savannah in the fall. He'd told me not to factor him into my decision about college, so I hadn't. A long-distance relationship was going to be tough. I knew we'd make it work, but it would change everything. And I wasn't sure I was ready for that. I didn't want things to change. My high school experience these past two years had been full of fear and unknowns. I wanted at least one thing I could count on now, one thing that wouldn't change, but I had nothing. It felt like the ground was crumbling under my feet and I was just sinking down into it.

I heard "Pomp and Circumstance" start, and of course all of the teachers who were here acting as monitors scurried around making sure we all had our caps on and the tassels in the right position, and that no one was wearing anything inappropriate or acting inappropriately. We walked into the auditorium and took our seats. Luckily, with the way the seating worked out, Hanna was right in front of me. I had someone I knew close by. I had a feeling that whatever Ezra was about to say, and whatever Spencer was about to say in her Valedictorian speech, was going to make me cry. It already killed me to think of leaving both of them in a few months.

The principal and vice principal both spoke and gave encouraging words about how we were going to accomplish great things in the world. The usual graduation speeches. And then Mr. Hackett introduced Ezra. "Everyone's favorite teacher," he called him. I had to chuckle. That was the understatement of the century.

"Um, you guys have spent the last couple of years listening to me talk, so I'm going to be brief today," Ezra started, looking out into the sea of faces until he found me and flashing me one of the smiles that had melted my heart every day since I met him. "Honestly, it's hard for me to find the words to say to you today. These past two years, Rosewood High has given me more than I ever would have thought possible. I came here as a brand new teacher, and I had no idea how much teaching here would affect me. Would change my life, change who I was, who I am. I've had most of you as students during both years I've taught here, and I've developed close relationships with a lot of you. It has been…an honor to see you all grow and mature into the amazing young men and women I see sitting in front of me now. I know you are all going to go out into the world and do amazing things with your lives. You'll find your own unique ways to contribute to the world. It's sad to see you leave Rosewood High today, but it also brings me great joy to think that I might have had some small influence on you while you were here. That I might have helped contribute, at least a little bit, to your success.

"Anyone who knows me at all is going to expect me to leave you with a quote today. So I won't disappoint. J.R.R. Tolkien wrote, 'It's a dangerous business…going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to.' It is my fervent wish for all of you that you get swept somewhere new and different and that, just like the characters in Tolkien's books, you find yourself on not just one, but a great many unexpected journeys. That you take a road trip somewhere and get hopelessly lost and end up finding the most amazing place you could imagine. Or maybe spend a semester abroad and learn about different cultures and try new and different things. But most of all, it is my wish that each of you find true joy and happiness in where you end up in your life. That you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that it's where you belong. And now it gives me great pleasure to introduce the Rosewood High School Class of 2012's Valedictorian, Miss Spencer Hastings. Thank you."

Had it just been me, or had that sounded like more of a goodbye than it should have? It felt like…like he was saying goodbye not just to this class, but to the school. Or maybe I was just going crazy. That was entirely possible.

As we were all applauding, Spencer walked up to the stage and gave Ezra a hug. He was grinning. He'd grown to love my friends almost as much as I did. And she looked so calm when she turned around and walked to the microphone.

"Wow, I'm not sure how I'm going to top that," she said. Everyone chuckled. "Mr. Fitz, ladies and gentlemen. You know, Mr. Hackett wasn't joking when he said that Mr. Fitz was everyone's favorite teacher. And there's a very good reason for that. Mr. Fitz took classic literature that most students would have hated and gave it a real-life application. He took the time to make sure that we actually learned something useful from these amazing authors. Um, I remember last year, he was teaching _To Kill a Mockingbird_ and he spent an entire day on literally two sentences in that book, because he thought it was an important enough lesson. To this day, I remember the quote. I'm pretty sure I'm going to be old and senile in a nursing home and still remember it. The quote was, 'I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It's when you know you're licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what.' I think my friends and I thought Mr. Fitz knew more than he was saying on that day. Or at least that he was reading our minds and knew how much we needed to hear those words. Really hear them and understand them.

"I know a lot of you know what has happened to me and my four best friends over the past two years. And you know that it's only recently ended. I'm not going to stand up here and tell you about the horrific things we went through. No one wants to hear that, trust me. Instead, I'm going to tell you what we learned from it. Or at least what I learned from it. I learned that we are all stronger than we ever thought possible, and braver. That we can handle anything life throws at us. We might not like it, and it might be the hardest thing we've ever gone through, but we can do it. We can do anything. I learned that having people that you can trust by your side is absolutely essential. That if you don't trust people and let them help you, you will fall off the deep end and feel like you're drowning and grasping for a life raft. I learned that friends are that life raft. That they're the thing that makes life worth living, even when it seems like there is no end to the pain in sight. I learned that there is nothing more important in this world than love. Love from family, love from friends, love from a boyfriend or girlfriend. Knowing that you're loved makes all the difference in the world. When you're being abused by a faceless monster, when you feel like you're the most despised person in the whole world, you need someone who loves you there with you. Someone who can remind you that you still matter. Someone who can tell you that, somehow, even when it seems impossible, everything is going to be okay. That they're going to stick by your side and help you through whatever life throws at you. And I learned that when you find those people, you have to hold on to them, and you can never take them for granted. Because one day, when you least expect it, everything can change.

"Just like now. Today. Everything is about to change for all of us. We're about to leave the safety and comfort of high school and go out into the unknown. Some of us will leave town and go to college in new and different places. Some of us will stay here and go to college. And some of us will start jobs or apprenticeships right away. And it's scary. But we can do it. We can be brave and face the obstacles our lives throw at us. As long as we have our friends and people that we trust and love with us, we can do anything. Like Mr. Fitz, I'm also going to leave you with a quote. But this one is actually from a children's book. Dr. Seuss was a pretty smart guy. This is from _Oh, The Places You'll Go!_ 'You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose. You're on your own. And you know what you know. You are the guy who'll decide where to go.' Thank you."

Yep, I was a mess after that. I had tears streaming down my face as I stood up and gave Spencer a standing ovation. She'd told us her valedictorian speech was going to be epic. And oh, was she right.

A lot of what she'd said had taken me back to six months ago, with Ezra and Elijah. I'd had to be strong and brave. I hadn't had a choice. But I'd trusted Wesley to help me and Ezra when we needed it, and I'd trusted both of them to do what they had to in order to get Elijah out of our lives, just like they'd trusted me to do my part. I'd trusted my friends enough to bring them into the loop and to let them help me as I worked through everything that had happened to me. And I'd trusted Ezra to help me through one of the worst days of my life when I'd had my pregnancy scare a few weeks later. And somehow, through all of it, I'd survived.

The problem was, now I was going to have to let my friends go. We were all spreading out to go to different places for school. And I was going to have to do something even harder too. I was going to have to leave Ezra. Not permanently. I wasn't breaking up with him. But I was moving a couple of thousand miles away, and I was going to have to change the dynamics of our relationship because of that. It was going to kill me inside, but I was going to have to do it. I almost wished I'd decided to stay here and go to Hollis. Or that he could go there. But he'd said it last year. I couldn't just pack up my high school English teacher and take him with me. He was much more than that to me, obviously, but the point remained the same. He didn't want me to miss out on anything else because of him. He wanted me to have a normal college experience. And to go and meet new people and try new things.

I pretty much zoned out while the mayor spoke. More of the same "making a difference in the world" stuff. And I kind of zoned out through the first few letters of the alphabet when they were handing out diplomas. But I snapped out of it in enough time to hear Alison's name being called and cheer for her. Then Emily's. Then Spencer's. Then Hanna's. They'd all given Ezra hugs when he'd handed them their diplomas, so that meant I could too without drawing attention to myself.

"Aria Montgomery," Mr. Hackett said.

I walked out and shook Mr. Hackett's hand, then walked over to Ezra who was waiting with my diploma and a huge grin. I gave him a hug, and he held me tight. Almost too tight. People might notice. But it seemed like he didn't care. After this moment, he wasn't my teacher anymore.

"I love you," he whispered right into my ear.

"I love you, too," I whispered back.

And then I walked off the stage and back into my seat and waited patiently as the second half of the alphabet was called. It felt like it took forever, though it was probably only half an hour.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you your Rosewood High School Class of 2012," Mr. Hackett said. "Graduates, you may now turn your tassels."

In unison, the entire graduating class turned their tassels and then threw their caps into the air. And then we found our families in the sea of people. Somehow, all of my friends and I wound up together with my parents.

"Spencer, that valedictorian speech was awesome," Emily said.

"You definitely knocked it out of the park," Alison agreed.

"No kidding," I echoed. "You nailed it, Spence."

"I have never been more proud to be friends with a brainiac," Hanna teased. "You were amazing."

"Thanks, guys," Spencer said, clearly uncomfortable with the praise.

"Girls, come on, get together. I need a picture," my mom said.

We all got together for a couple of pictures, and then I took one with each of my friends individually.

"Hey, Aria, I think someone else is waiting for you," Alison said a few minutes later, looking to the right.

I looked over, and Ezra was acting like he was talking to other people, but clearly waiting for me. I was torn. I did want to go see him, but this wasn't really the setting for a public display of affection. I looked back, and my mom was looking at me and smiling. My dad looked like he would rather be at a root canal appointment than see this, but I could also tell he wasn't going to stop me.

"Aria, he's not your teacher anymore," my mom said. "It's okay. Go on."

I looked at the rest of my friends, not wanting to just abandon them.

"Seriously, Aria, get out of here. We'll see you tonight," Emily said.

"Yeah," Spencer said. "I need to go find Toby anyway. I'm sure he's somewhere in this sea of people trying to find me."

"And I need to find Caleb," Hanna echoed.

"All right, I get the message," I laughed. "I'll see you guys tonight."

And then I practically ran over to the love of my life, who was waiting for me with open arms. He lifted me up at least two feet in the air, then set me back down and kissed me right there in front of the entire graduating class and their families. And every member of the Rosewood High faculty. Literally no one seemed to care. Or they just weren't paying attention. I would have thought at least Mr. Hackett would look disgusted or dismayed, but even he didn't seem to mind.

"Congratulations," Ezra said. "How does it feel?"

"Weird," I chuckled. "Especially right now."

He hugged me again. "I know. It's weird for me too. So, someone else wanted to be here today. I took the liberty of telling him you wouldn't mind."

"Congrats, Aria," I heard a familiar voice behind me.

I turned around, and Wesley was holding a huge bouquet of flowers and a card.

"Wes!" I said, laughing and giving him a hug as I took the flowers and card from him. "I didn't know you were coming back with Ezra."

"I wouldn't have missed this for the world," Wesley said. "Okay, come on, you two, picture time. I get the feeling Aria's mom isn't going to get one for her scrapbook. Someone has to document this."

Ezra and I both tried to protest. Since most of our relationship, other than a few brief months, had been behind closed doors, there weren't really that many pictures of the two of us together. So it was strange for us to pose for pictures. But since Wesley wasn't taking no for an answer, we let him take a couple.

"Hey, come with me for a second," Ezra said suddenly, and I took his outstretched hand without a word.

He led me to his old classroom, which was now stripped bare. It wasn't guaranteed that he would be in the same room next year, so he'd had to take everything out of the room. He'd done that last week, since he'd been away in New York this week. It had been so weird taking the final exam in this room. It hadn't even really felt like his classroom or his class. He closed the door behind us, then turned around and gave me the kiss he couldn't give me in front of his colleagues and former students.

"Sorry to drag you away from your family, but I needed to ask you something, and I didn't want to do it in the middle of a crowd of people," he said.

"What is it?" I asked.

He took a deep breath. "Look, I have to go to the cabin tomorrow. And honestly, I don't know if I can handle going by myself. I haven't been back since…well, you know. I know this is asking a lot, but will you come with me? Please?"

Why he would think that was asking a lot was beyond me. I would have gone with him to the end of the earth if he'd asked me to. Going back to the cabin was nothing. I actually wanted some time completely alone with him. We did have some talking to do, which I'd been putting off.

"Of course," I told him. "What time should I be at your place in the morning? I'd say I'd spend the night, but I don't think that's going to fly tonight."

He chuckled. "Yeah, probably not. And you'll probably be up pretty late, so how's ten? Too early?"

"No, ten sounds good," I said, and kissed him again.

Something in the way he held me as we kissed, and even in the way he kissed me…it was different. I couldn't explain it. It still made me weak at the knees and gave me butterflies in my stomach, but it was also calming at the same time. Like he was trying to assure me that we were okay, that we would make this work no matter how far apart we were. And suddenly I was a lot less worried about us. We would never lose this. We couldn't. We were stronger than that.

 **Ezra**

My heart was in my throat as we pulled up to the cabin. I was nervous about going back inside, but I was even more nervous about the conversation Aria and I were about to have. And I was especially nervous about asking her to marry me. I was almost ready to chicken out and not ask her, but I reminded myself that I was okay with it if she wasn't ready to say yes right now. That this was just symbolic at this point and I wasn't going to actually start planning a wedding for at least a couple of years even if I was lucky enough that she did say yes.

I looked over at Aria, and she looked nervous too. She didn't have great memories of this cabin either. Maybe this had been a bad idea. Well, it was too late now. We were here. Besides, I actually did need to make sure it was clean and that I'd gotten any personal things I wanted out of it. The sale was happening in a couple of weeks. And I really wasn't sure if I could have handled coming out here alone. I would be able to get lost in my head too easily if I was alone.

"Hey, are you okay?" I asked as I turned the car off.

She turned and smiled at me. "Yeah, I'm okay. I'm a little nervous about going back in there, but I'll be okay. Why did you have to come here today?"

I took a deep breath; she didn't know that this was my cabin. I'd never told her, and neither had Elijah.

"I'm actually selling it in a couple of weeks, and I need to make sure it's clean and I have everything I want out of it. I'm selling it furnished and as is."

She chuckled. "You know, when most guys want to get their girlfriend a gift, they go for flowers and chocolate. Or maybe jewelry. Not a house."

Wait, she had known? How had she known? Oh, right. Wesley. He really needed to learn to keep his mouth shut. Though he did keep quiet when it was really important.

I laughed and kissed her. "My brother needs to learn when to keep his mouth shut. But you are worth much more than this. I wish we'd actually been able to use this cabin the way it was intended to be used at least once."

"Me too," she agreed. "But we'll find another place. Somewhere that's just ours, without all the baggage attached to it."

I smiled; she had no idea. "Yeah, we will."

I took a breath and steeled myself; I really wasn't looking forward to going inside.

"You ready to go in?" I asked.

"Ready as I'll ever be. Let's go."

We walked in to find…a disaster. Elijah had broken pretty much every plate and bowl here and had thrown the bed upside down and even thrown a couple of decorative pieces against the wall and broken them. He'd been beyond furious when he'd found out I was gone.

"Ezra." Aria's voice brought me out of my thoughts.

I turned to look at her, not saying anything. I realized I was hyperventilating, and I tried to calm my breathing.

"Listen to me," she said, putting her arms around my neck. "It's over. Elijah's dead. He can't hurt either of us anymore. Come on, let's just get this cleaned up and then we can relax for a little while, okay?"

I pulled her close and held her for several minutes before letting go. How was it that she was only eighteen and she was, in some ways, more mature than I was?

"You're right," I said. "Let's get this over with."

An hour, several cardboard boxes of broken glass, and a few tears (from both of us) later, we had gotten the cabin back in order. I put on a pot of coffee and waited until it was done and I'd poured us each a cup before working up the nerve to actually start talking.

"So," I started, "I think we've both been putting off this conversation because neither of us wants to think about it. But we need to talk about what's going to happen in a couple of months."

She sighed, and I saw a tear in the corner of one of her eyes. "I know. We do. But you're right. I don't want to think about it. It's hard enough thinking about leaving my friends. Every time I think about leaving you, I just want to start crying. I know we'll make it work, but I still don't want to think about being that far away from you."

I reached out to take her hand. "I know. But you're going to college. You are going to meet so many new people and get to have all kinds of amazing experiences. Having at least one professor who makes absolutely no sense when he's talking. Sorority hazing. Co-ed dorm bathrooms and showers. Having your neighbors play music way too loud at one in the morning when you have a test at eight. Your roommate, who you absolutely can't stand, bringing a different guy back to your room every week."

She laughed. "Wow, you're really making me look forward to life in the dorms."

I chuckled too, then took a deep breath and reached into my pocket for the first of (hopefully) two things I was going to give her today. A second key that I'd had made to my apartment.

"But, if it ever gets to be too much for you and you need somewhere to go…" I put the key in her hand.

She looked down and gasped. I could tell she was making the connection, but that she was having a hard time wrapping her head around it.

"That's the key to my apartment in Savannah," I finished. "I got a job teaching 11th grade English there starting next year, pending getting my Georgia teaching license. I'm going back next month to take a licensing exam."

Aria smiled. "You weren't in New York this week, were you?"

"No, I wasn't. I had my final interview at the high school on Wednesday. Wes went with me to help me at least get a few things set up in the apartment. And to complete the illusion of me being in New York."

"Why didn't you tell me about any of this?"

"I didn't want to say anything until it was certain. I didn't want to get your hopes up if this wasn't going to work out. And then by the time everything fell into place, I figured I'd just surprise you this weekend instead."

Aria leaned over and kissed me, clearly overjoyed at this news. And now that I knew she wasn't upset with me for lying to her about where I was this week, I finally let myself be happy about it too. Regardless of what her answer to the question I was about to ask her was, we would at least be together. That was what was really important.

"That was a pretty elaborate surprise," she said when she finally broke the kiss a couple of minutes later. "Let me guess. You also didn't want to influence my decision to put a deposit down on the dorms."

"You would be right. You didn't get a normal high school experience thanks to me, but I'm going to make sure that you get a relatively normal college experience. You are going to enjoy all the joys of living in the dorms for at least a year. Then, if you can't stand it and want to move in with me, or even if you just want to move in with me anyway, I will happily have you."

"You realize you're completely insane, right? Picking up and moving across the country for me?"

And there was my opening. I took another deep breath.

"Actually, for the first time in my life, I'm thinking clearly," I started. "I'm not doing this on a whim. Ever since I was a little kid, when Elijah was so cruel to me and Wesley, I never wanted to have anything in my life that I couldn't stand to lose. Because I knew that he'd just take it from me. Our parents got Wes a puppy for his fourth birthday and he and I both loved that dog, but Elijah killed it and mutilated it almost beyond recognition a few months later. When he met Maggie after he got out of the institution my mom had had him put in, he scared her half to death. And when she found out she was pregnant, my mom paid her to leave town and never talk to me again because she didn't want Elijah to find out about it. I moved to Rosewood and changed my name to Fitz trying to keep him from finding me. I paid for everything with cash and money orders to avoid a paper trail. That was why you found that huge bag of cash in my sock drawer. And that was all working great…until I met you. I knew it was dangerous. I knew that if I settled down and started getting careless, he would figure out that there was something in my life he could use to hurt me. But I couldn't help it. I literally could not stop myself from loving you.

"When I found Elijah's apartment in Ravenswood, when I saw that he'd figured out that hurting you was the best way to hurt me, I was terrified. But before I even had a chance to try to protect you, he took me. And right here, under this floor, I literally fell apart. Because I knew what he was going to do to you before he even did it. And I was terrified of you finding out who he was, because I couldn't stand the thought of him torturing or killing you to hurt me. If I could have died to spare you the pain, I would have. The first time he brought you out here, the day after he took me, I wished I was dead."

"Ezra, stop. You don't have to do this to yourself," Aria interrupted me.

"There's actually a point to what I was saying, but I did kind of go off on a tangent," I told her. "The point is, everything that happened here in this cabin, everything that happened when you got me out of here, and then when Charlotte took you and your friends, it made me realize something. You're the one thing in my life that I can't stand to lose, Aria. I literally can't even begin to imagine my life without you. And I don't want to. Ever. I want you in my life, for the rest of my life. So, that being said, I want to ask you something. You don't have to give me an answer right now, and I'm not trying to rush you into anything. But if anything is going to prove to you that I'm one hundred percent serious about this move, and about you, it's this." I took one last deep breath and pulled the ring box out of my pocket as I got down on one knee in front of the love of my life. "Aria Marie Montgomery, will you marry me?"

Aria had tears in her eyes when I was done, and this was one of the few times when I couldn't tell what she was thinking. At all. I just stayed there on one knee, waiting for what seemed like an eternity for her to say something. Anything.

"I don't know which is crazier," she finally said. "The fact that you're proposing to me literally one day after my high school graduation, or…the fact that I'm saying yes. Absolutely, completely, one hundred percent, yes."

She leaned to kiss me, and I stood up, picking her up with me. I turned around and sat back down on the couch, pulling her down onto my lap.

"I love you so much," I said, half-laughing. I couldn't contain my joy.

"I love you, too," she said, kissing me again. "More than I can even wrap my head around."

I realized I was still just holding the open ring box, and I handed it to her.

"So are you ready to actually wear that, or…?" I asked. "Like I said, I'm not trying to rush anything. Matter of fact, I want to wait at least a couple of years. At least until you're old enough to have a glass of champagne at our wedding. But I just wanted you to understand that I'm not moving to Savannah with you on a whim. I'm doing it because I love you and I don't want to spend a day in my life without you."

"I wouldn't have said yes if I wasn't ready to wear the ring," she said, taking the ring out of the box.

"Wait, that's my job," I teased, taking it from her and sliding it on her finger. I kissed her again.

"I'm not looking forward to telling my dad, though," she chuckled.

"Oh, he already knows."

"Seriously? You actually asked my parents?"

"Yes, I did," I told her. "Your dad just told me that you're eighteen now and he couldn't stop me. And your mom was fine with it once I assured her you weren't pregnant, as long as I didn't rush an actual wedding. She's actually happy that you're not going to be alone in Savannah. That you're going to have someone there who loves and supports you no matter what."

"I should have known," Aria said, shaking her head. "You really are a hopeless romantic, Ezra Fitz. And it's one of the many reasons why I love you."

As our lips met again, I realized something. Elijah had failed. Completely. He'd tried to tear my life apart, to kill me, to destroy everything and everyone I cared about. But in the end, he'd had the exact opposite effect. He'd brought Aria and I back together where we belonged. I wasn't deluding myself. I knew we had both changed. Neither of us were the same people that we had been before this all started. But the people we'd become were even better. We were braver now. Stronger. And, clearly, more committed to each other now than ever before. Elijah hadn't torn Aria and I apart like he'd planned; he'd brought us closer together.


End file.
